


Mage of Crimson Night

by ambiguous_saint



Category: The Little Vampire 3D (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Magic, Fluff and Angst, Human/Vampire Relationship, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Porn With Plot, Rimming, Rough Sex, Vampires, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:21:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28034571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambiguous_saint/pseuds/ambiguous_saint
Summary: Formerly 'Seeing Red'Tony Thompson moves to Germany as part of his parents' year-long sabbatical, which begins three days before his 18th birthday. Little does he know, his life is about to change dramatically after his fate becomes intertwined with that of a 318 year old vampire and child of night, Rudolph Sackville-Bagg, who may just be the most beautiful, intriguing, and terrifying creature that Tony has ever laid eyes upon.Finding himself torn between two incompatible secret societies within the Court of Night, one promising untold power and one promising love everlasting, Tony refuses to acquiesce to either side and sets forth a paradigm shift, irrevocably changing the balance of power within the magical world, within which he had barely stepped foot.
Relationships: Tony Thompson/Rudolph Sackville-Bagg
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47





	1. Seeing Crimson

_… and just as the mausoleum door cracked and slowly slid open with a low groan, a mysterious fog spilt forth and ensnared his feet. As the full moon shone down upon the graveyard and softly illuminated the interior of the stone building, he saw a black mass rise from the grave at the center of the sepulcher. He barely had time to register the flash of pale skin and fangs as the figure turned toward him before the vampire suddenly leapt forth—_

“Tony! Are you finished packing?” called Dottie Thompson from the downstairs living room. “You know we have an early day tomorrow!”

Tony started and cursed under his breath at having been cut off right at the climax, but he put his book back in his backpack. “Not quite, Mom!” the teenager answered. “I just need to pack my clothes!”

In just four days it would be Tony Thompson’s eighteenth birthday, and he had been begging to visit Romania for months. He wanted to tour Bran Castle, visit ancient graveyards, and explore the catacombs. While the teenager hadn’t genuinely believed in the existence of vampires since he was thirteen, he was still fascinated by the lore, the legends, and the culture. Plus, medieval towns, castles, fortresses, and the European countryside all sounded picturesque anyway, so what’s the worst that could happen? Spending a couple weeks surrounded by beauty and culture? The teenager’s mom had no desire to indulge his vampire obsession after having put up with it for the past ten years, but luckily his dad had talked her into it. His parents had decided to take a sabbatical in Germany for a year, and they would spend a week in Romania for Tony’s birthday. While he wasn’t excited to leave his friends and his life in San Diego behind for a whole year, he thought it would be an even bigger and more exciting adventure than he had asked for.

Tony hopped out of bed and pulled his suitcase out from under the bed frame. After unzipping it, he went to his dresser, which was organized not by clothing type, but by color, and began packing the luggage. He decided his cool-colored clothes, like his blue jeans, would be on the left side of the suitcase, and his warm-colored clothes, like his red hoodie, would sit on the right.

As it so happened, Tony was colorblind, born with monochromacy. He still remembered the optometrist explaining to him that two types of his ‘photoreceptors’ called ‘cones’ were nonfunctional, resulting in vision that lacked any color at all. The doctor explained that his parents likely carried the gene, even if they could see color just fine. Tony didn’t understand exactly what the doctor was saying at the time as he was quite young, but he did know he had no idea what anyone meant when they talked about ‘clear blue skies’ or ‘blood-red roses’. He lived his life in black, white, and shades of gray.

While it wasn’t something he spent too much time yearning for, Tony did often wonder what it would be like to live life seeing color. Sometimes he would read poetry or descriptive novels and marvel at the idea. One color in particular has always intrigued the boy: red. The way it was described in poetry and novels was always so… _passionate._ They say it’s the color you feel when love swells and overflows in your chest, the color that splashes your cheeks and betrays your emotion when your crush throws a smile at you, the color of anger bursting from your voice as you stand up to the high school bullies pestering your best friend, and the color of the crimson rivulets streaming from your nose in the aftermath of the ensuing assault. Yes, red was definitely his favorite color, even if he had never seen it.

After having finally finished packing, Tony zipped his suitcase, pushed it under his bed again, turned off his light, and fell back on his mattress with a sigh of relief. The blonde teenager was beyond excited to embark on his journey to Europe tomorrow, but he was soon enough able to fall asleep.

***

Tony had been more or less awake for over twenty-four hours now, aside from the little restless sleep he got on the transcontinental flight. His parents had rented a car once they arrived in Germany, and they were headed to a castle in the German countryside where they would be staying for the majority of the sabbatical, which would be a welcome reprieve as they each felt exhausted and needed a solid few nights of sleep to acclimate to the time change before they could continue their vacation.

Even as Tony was struggling to keep his eyes open, he couldn’t help but admire the sheer beauty of the landscape: the luscious forests full of life and vitality, the pristine lakes that shimmered like diamonds in the light of the afternoon sun, and, of course, the massive picturesque castle itself nestled in the mountainside. By they time they arrived at the chateau and started unloading their luggage, it was only an hour before sundown.

The host and hostess of the luxurious “bed and breakfast” led them to their rooms as they hauled their luggage behind them. The teenager’s parents would be staying about halfway up the main tower, while Tony would be all the way at the top in the uppermost chamber by his own choice. Before his parents split off to their own room, the family agreed to meet in the morning for breakfast, as they were all too exhausted to even think about finding food that evening. Plus, it would allow them to get enough sleep to start shaking off the jet lag.

After finally trudging up the final few stairs with his suitcase, the blonde was met with the door to his private room. The host handed him the key and explained to keep the window closed when he wasn’t in his room, but otherwise left Tony to his own devices. He unlocked the room, stepped inside, and opened the curtains. From the large french-style windows, he could see the courtyard below and the other side of the castle, as well as the breathtaking valley that split the mountain range below the fortress.

Tony closed the curtains after taking in the sight, sighed in contentment, and kicked off his shoes before climbing into the four-poster with a yawn. _Finally,_ he thought to himself as he pulled the plush duvet over himself and sank into the soft mattress, _sleep._ He closed his eyes, dozing off within moments.

***

Tony woke suddenly to a bright flash of light filling his room, shortly followed by the loud, room-shaking crash of thunder. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand to check the time: 3:36. The boy rubbed his eyes groggily and pulled himself out of the bed before walking to the window. He pulled open the curtain to see a heavy downpour of rain flowing past the lanterns below in the courtyard. Once again, the lightning flashed and illuminated the sky and the valley below. The boy watched the thunderstorm for a moment before dragging himself back to bed, curling up under the duvet and returning to his dreams.

***

In the soft light of the rainy morning, Tony awoke to the gentle pitter patter of the rain on his window and the ceiling above. He took a moment to enjoy the supple, inviting bed, the relaxing, monotonous rhythm of the rain, and the low grumble of distant thunder before finally pulling himself out of bed and getting ready for the day.

After finally descending the countless stairs of the tower, Tony emerged in the grand dining room of the castle to find his parents in the middle of serving themselves from a very large, towering platter of German bratwursts.

“Mom, you don’t even like sausage,” Tony commented as he sat down at the table and helped himself to a couple of the links. “Don’t they have cereal?” he asked with a small breath of a laugh.

Dottie Thompson grimaced at her son while her husband, Bob, smirked. “I already asked… and, no, they don’t.” she said with a sigh. “It seems that breakfast cereal is part of the _American_ culture, not traditional _German_ culture.”

Bob let out a small laugh while Tony began helping himself to the ‘breakfast’. “Well,” began Bob, “we’ll try to find something you _do_ like in the nearby town for lunch. In the meantime, we do have those granola bars in our snack bag from the trip.”

Dottie sighed and set down her fork. “I just hope I’m not doomed to a year of breakfast sausage,” she said as she slid her sausage onto her husband’s plate and excused herself to go grab some granola bars from her bedroom.

“Dad,” the boy started as he finished the last bite of a sausage link, “do you think I could grab an umbrella and explore the forest today? It’s only sprinkling now, and I promise not to go too far,” he bargained with pleading eyes.

“Sure, but don’t get lost,” his dad warned. “I know your phone has GPS, but I doubt it’s too reliable out here in the middle of the mountains and the forest.”

“You got it, Dad! Thanks!” Tony said as he took one last large bite of bratwurst and ran back to his room. Well, he ran part of the way. By the time he arrived at the top of the tower to grab an umbrella from his bag and some boots from his suitcase, he was out of breath and had to sit down for a second to regain his composure.

Undaunted, Tony was bursting out of the massive front doors of the castle moments later, pushing them closed behind himself before opening his umbrella in the light drizzle of the rain and venturing forth across the bridge that connected the fortress to the winding road that snaked kilometers into the forest before finally connecting to a minor highway. Tony, however, had no intention of following the road; that would be boring. Instead, he followed the road just far enough to find an ancient, small graveyard that was spread just below, to the immediate side of the road.

The teenager looked over the gravestones, peered into the mausoleums, and sat in a small memorial garden for a moment, but he didn’t find much other than the occasional snail, slug, or earthworm in the damp, mossy earth that filled and surrounded the final resting place of the Germans from another lifetime. In fact, most of the dates and names had worn so much in the elements over the past few hundred years that they were no longer legible, and the few that were legible were written in old German, far from comprehensible to the American boy.

After taking a few pictures of the ancient, mossy graveyard, he finally decided to venture forth deeper into the forest, officially abandoning the road that led him here from the castle he would call home for the next twelve months. _I’ll only head in one direction,_ he thought to himself, _so I only have to turn around to find my way back to the graveyard._

After about twenty minutes of exploring, Tony had discovered a small lake in the middle of the mountainous terrain. The waters were as still and dark as night, with inky black waters that reflected very little light. The only movement he could see were muted little ripples as the droplets of rain hit the surface. He crouched down and touched the water on the surface of the lake, and despite the weather being considerably warm in the late summer, the water was ice-cold to the touch.

The blonde shook the water off his hand and stood up to take a few pictures of the mysterious, dark lake before him. He figured he should find his way back to the graveyard before he got lost or too far deep in the forest, so he turned around and headed back into the wooded area of the forest.

After walking about ten minutes toward the graveyard, Tony realized the forest path no longer looked familiar. He kept pushing forward for another ten minutes, but the forest became thicker, harder to walk through, and even less familiar the farther he adventured along. He opened his phone’s maps, but, as his dad warned, his signal wasn’t good enough to load his precise location or any sort of helpful directions. Even as the boy tried not to panic, he couldn’t help but pick up his pace. As the minutes ticked by, he started running through the forest, stumbling over branches and other organic debris. It seemed like he was rushing around blindly for hours when he finally burst out of the forest into a clearing.

Collapsing down to his knees, the boy panted for several minutes until he began to sob softly, anxiety overwhelming him as he tried to catch his breath and calm down. He shifted his weight to a more comfortable position, and desperately tried opening directions on his phone to no avail. Tony cursed loudly and put his phone away before rubbing his hands over his face in frustration. _How could I be so stupid and reckless?_ he thought to himself.

Lost in his thoughts, the boy didn’t even notice another figure standing only a couple yards to his left in the small, grassy clearing.

After a few moments, the sound of someone clearing their throat broke through the sound of Tony’s grumbling and whining. The boy immediately jumped to his feet and looked over to see who else was in the clearing with him.

“Oh, thank God! I thought I was—“ he began to exclaim as he rushed toward the figure standing before him, but he quickly froze in his tracks as he got near the other man. The darkly-clad figure stood glowering at the boy. He was wearing a cape, combat boots, and a jacket with some sort of spikes along the collar and the front, but what stood out to Tony were his eyes, his… _colorful_ eyes.

“Your eyes… they’re…” he began, not sure how to finish. In fact, he wasn’t exactly sure what color the man's eyes were.

“Yes, Mortal, my eyes are red,” the stranger replied shortly in an accent Tony didn’t quite recognize, crossing his arms.

“ _Red_ …” Tony agreed, mesmerized. The blonde dropped his umbrella as he took another step forward over a line of mushrooms and entered the dark-haired man’s personal space. Yes, red was definitely Tony’s favorite color. This man’s irises, they were like a crimson sea, interspersed with flecks of black, surrounding the dark pool of his pupils. The color was vibrant, warm,and _intense. Is this what people meant by ‘blood-red roses’?_ he wondered to himself.

The boy reached out toward the other man’s cheek without realizing what he was doing, but before Tony could make contact, the man stepped back and placed his hands on his hips.

“Mortal, what _are_ you doing?” the pale man asked, continuing to glare at Tony.

The blonde shook his head and forced himself to snap out of his hypnosis. “Sorry, it’s just that I’ve never seen a color before, _any_ color, you know, since I was born,” he explained quickly, beginning to ramble but not breaking eye contact. "The doctors say I have monochromacy, so naturally when I saw the red in your eyes, the beautiful crimson, at least I think it’s crimson, red… wait, did you call me—”

“Woah, Mortal, slow down,” said the man, “are you not _afraid_?”

This caught Tony off-guard. He wasn’t sure why he should be afraid, so he looked around before studying the taller man more closely. Aside from his bizarre gothic attire and red irises, the man was rather pale, but nothing too out of the ordinary stuck out to the blonde. “Why should I be afraid?” he asked after a moment of studying the other man.

Realizing his gray skin meant little to the colorblind teenager, the tall figure gave Tony a toothy grin, flashing his fangs. “Well,” he said as the boy’s eyes went wide and he froze in place, “you _do_ look delicious.”

Tony began to step back, but found himself pressed against an invisible barrier, as if there were a solid wall behind him. “Please don’t hurt me,” he said, pleading to the vampire and beginning to panic again.

“Even if I could let you go, which I can’t,” the vampire said, making his point by pressing his hand against the invisible barrier and leaning in toward the human’s face, “how could I be so sure you wouldn’t put a pack of mortals on my trail the second you got away?”

“Why would I do that? You haven’t done anything to me!” the human exclaimed, hoping to reason with the vampire.

“So far,” replied the vampire, his eyes glancing at the boy’s neck.

“I even like vampires!” replied Tony desperately.

“Of course you do!” said the vampire skeptically, “I know what you’re up to. I’ve been warned!”

“I’m not… scared of you. I’m not!” the boy said with a gulp, his voice breaking and betraying his fear.

The vampire chuckled under his breath. “You’re not scared?” he said, leaning in towards the boy’s neck. “Is that so?” he asked under his breath.

“Who am I kidding?” the boy said, swallowing again and shrinking back, “I’m terrified.”

The vampire sighed and patted the boy’s arm as he stepped back. “It’s alright. I’m afraid I won’t survive the day either way,” he said, gesturing toward the sky. “As soon as those clouds break, I’m destined to dust.”

The vampire looked away and tried to act aloof, but Tony could see the fear flicker in his eyes. “Well,” the human started, “what exactly is keeping us from crossing this invisible barrier?”

“It’s fae magic,” explained the vampire, “caused by the fairy ring we’re standing in right now.” He gestured to the ring of mushrooms on the ground. “Tricky things, the fae,” he continued, “always meddling in fate, or ‘guiding’ it as they would say. The fae most likely led us toward each other and set this fairy ring trap for Gods know what reason,” he explained with a sigh.

“So… so I’m not completely hopeless with directions? I was guided along this path by… by ‘fae’?” the boy asked, feeling slightly better about his earlier misadventure.

The vampire chuckled and returned his gaze to the boy. “It appears so, else we are both terribly misfortunate.”

“Well, lucky for you I know the perfect way to break this fairy ring and save your… uh… existence!” Tony said with a grin. “As long as you promise not to kill me after,” he bargained.

“You know how to break a fae spell? Are you a druid?” the Vampire asked, his voice sounding hopeful. “I would not truly harm you either way, but yes, you have my word,” the immortal continued to Tony’s relief.

“No, I’m not a druid,” replied the boy, “but I am lucky!”

The human dropped to the ground and grabbed the handle of the umbrella that happened to be lying only partially inside of the fairy ring. He dragged the umbrella along the ring and pushed down a good few mushrooms along the ring as the vampire watched. The boy pushed his hand toward the edge of the ring, and it passed right through.

“You’re brilliant!” exclaimed the vampire with a bright smile, clapping the human boy on the back as he stood up.

“So… you’re really not going to bite me?” Tony asked, beaming at the vampire.

“Hmm,” the vampire hummed, stepping around the blonde and putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder as he leaned toward his neck from behind, “Time will tell,” he said, chuckling as he pulled away and began to float in front of the boy.

“I best set off before the sun bursts forth. You have my thanks, Mortal,” the vampire said in gratitude with a small bow.

“Wait!” Tony exclaimed before the vampire could leave. “I’m completely lost out here. Could you… uhh, help me back to the nearby castle?” he asked, feeling helpless and flushing with embarrassment.

“Well, you did save my life. I supposed I could return the favor,” the immortal decided, landing in front of the teenager. “What’s your name, anyway?”

“Tony Thompson!” replied the boy, smiling and offering his hand for the vampire to shake.

The vampire stared at the boy’s hand in apprehension for a moment before deciding to take his hand within his own and shake it. “Rudolph Sackville-Bagg,” he answered. “Now, don’t let go.”

Rudolph began floating again, and, much to Tony’s surprise, so did he. “Woah, woah, wait!” he shouted as the world began slipping away below him. “This is awesome, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not sure I’m ready for this yet!” he shouted in a shaky voice, terrified of falling.

Rudolph simply chuckled and ignored his request as the two broke past the treetops and began flying over the forest toward the castle nestled in the mountain in the distance. Tony found himself grinning in excitement and tightening his death grip on the vampire’s hand, but Rudolph didn’t seem to mind.

After several moments of taking in the landscape and trying not to have a panic attack from hundreds of feet above the mossy forest floor, Tony finally felt comfortable enough to look over to the immortal, getting lost in his eyes once more. They were the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen. In fact, the vampire was quite handsome himself, Tony remarked. He was tall and lithe with just enough muscle definition, and his jawline and cheekbones were sharp and well-defined. The immortal’s skin was smooth and flawless. His eyelids were ever so slightly darker than his complexion, and his eyebrows were full and deep black like his hair, giving his eyes a mysterious quality and accenting those beautiful blood-crimson irises all the more.

Rudolph looked over at Tony with a knowing grin. “Enjoying the view?” he asked with a chuckle.

Tony flushed bright red and simply looked forward again. “You can just drop me now,” he said, embarrassment painted all over him. Rudolph just laughed at the curious teenager as they approached the castle.

“I’m, uh, I’m in the highest room of the tower. The window should be unlocked,” Tony directed, still too embarrassed to look the handsome vampire in the eyes.

They pushed the French-style windows open and landed inside, Tony letting out a sigh of relief after having finished his first flight.

“Well, Tony Thompson, I suppose this is where ours paths diverge,” the immortal said as he let go of the blonde’s hand. “You have my thanks for saving my life,” he added.

The disappointment was visible on Tony’s face as he watched the vampire start to leave. “Oh… won’t I see you again?” the human asked, looking crestfallen.

Rudolph looked at the human with an amused expression. “You would like to meet again?” he asked. “You would associate with a child of night, such as myself?” he questioned, hardly believing what the mortal was suggesting.

“Of course. You are _so_ cool.” Tony said, eliciting a confused chuckle from the vampire.

“What does my temperature have to do with it?” the taller man asked.

“No, cool, like awesome, like sick!” the blonde explained animatedly with a smile.

The vampire felt his forehead and smiled back, still confused. “I feel fine.”

Tony laughed and playfully punched the immortal’s arm. “You’ve got a lot to learn, vampire.”

Rudolph smiled fondly at the boy. “You are the _strangest_ mortal,” he said, shaking his head, “but, if you’re certain, leave your window unlocked this evening, and I shall return shortly after sundown.” The vampire lifted the boy’s hand to his mouth, placed a chaste kiss to his top knuckles while maintaining eye contact before finally floating out of the window and flying back toward the forest.

Tony flushed bright red once again at the intimacy of the gesture and watched the vampire fly until he flew into the trees, out of the human’s sight.

***

Tony cleaned up and put on some dry clothes shortly after Rudolph had left. He rejoined his parents, and they headed into the nearby town to find food, but Tony’s mind was stuck replaying the events of the morning on repeat. Even when his parents offered to let him pick the restaurant, the boy passed on the suggestion, claiming he wasn’t too hungry and still a bit jet lagged. After the meal, they still had quite a bit of food leftover, so they took it back to castle to place in the fridge of his parents’ apartment-style suite.

He spent the whole afternoon daydreaming and questioning his own sanity, but everything he experienced that morning felt as real as the world in front of him, so he was certain that none of it was his imagination. Tony felt relieved that his family wouldn’t have an excuse to venture into the town again that night, as he only wanted to wait for the vampire to return and prove to himself that everything had been real.

Tony genuinely was jet lagged, however, and ended up falling asleep in his room an hour or so before sundown, despite his best effort not to.

***

Tony awoke a few hours later, the sky now completely dark as the sun had long been set. He checked his phone for the time and sighed, his heart sinking. _He must have decided that a mortal wasn’t worth his time…_ he thought sullenly. He set his phone down and rolled over in bed before yelping in surprise and flinging himself out the opposite end of the bed.

“Oh, _fuck_!” he cursed, rubbing his head and pulling himself back into the bed. Rudolph had been sitting in the chair next to his bed, casually watching the blonde boy sleep.

The vampire floated to the side of the bed and sat on the mattress. “Are you alright, Mortal? I apologize for frightening you. I did not wish to wake you from your slumber, as you seemed rather… peaceful,” he explained.

“I’m okay. The only thing I bruised was my pride,” Tony said, laughing at himself in embarrassment. “We need to put a bell on you,” he joked, smirking at the vampire who didn’t quite understand the reference, but Rudolph simply cocked an eyebrow rather than questioning the boy.

“Don’t vampires sleep as well?” Tony wondered aloud, questioning whether all the stories he read were any sort of accurate representation of reality.

“Of course we sleep,” Rudolph said with a chuckle. “We sleep during the day, for obvious reasons,” he continued, “but you mortals seem so… cozy in those little nests you insist on.”

“Nests?” Tony repeated, laughing for a moment as the vampire just watched, smiling at the amused boy. “We call them beds. I suppose you sleep in coffins?” he asked in a joking tone, but Tony was more than half serious.

“That’s right, Mortal,” he replied, pushing his hand into the plush material of the memory foam mattress, “but perhaps I see the appeal of this modern… _bed,_ ” he admitted.

“Would you like to lay down under the covers for a moment?” Tony asked without realizing what he was offering at first, but he felt a blush creeping into his complexion and his eyes widened as he realized what he had said. “I mean—” he began.

“Yes. I have never lied in such a luxurious nesting area before,” Rudolph said, cutting off the boy before he could apologize or rescind his offer, “and I was feeling slightly envious,” he finished with a smirk. The vampire proceeded to unlace his high-top combat boots, placed them on the floor, and tossed his jacket on the chair. He returned to the bed as Tony stared, face still red. The immortal slid himself under the duvet and laid flat on his back with his hands crossed over his stomach, just as he would in a coffin.

Tony slid himself back under the plush blanket and joined the vampire, lying on his side and grinning. “You have much more room than you would in a coffin, and the foam fits your body too, so you don’t really have to lay stiff on your back like that,” the blonde explained.

Rudolph turned to his side and propped his head on his hand, mimicking the human. “Indeed, I do see the appeal of such an invention. It is extraordinarily comfortable in any position,” he agreed, marveling at the material. The vampire rolled again, testing his theory as he lied on his stomach. Tony thought the vampire’s curious exploration was incredibly adorable and amusing, and he couldn’t help but giggle at the display.

“Marvelous!” the intrigued immortal exclaimed with that dazzling smile, turning once more to face the human who was now only inches away from his face.

Tony felt the familiar mesmerizing effect that the vampire’s eyes had on him begin to overtake his mind and body. He shook his head trying to literally shake off the feeling, but as soon as he made eye contact again, he felt himself relaxing into the mattress and staring into those beautiful eyes again. The effect was even stronger as the other man was only inches from his face now, and he could see every detail of the beautiful crimson up close. _I’ll never get used to that color,_ he thought to himself.

After a couple moments of silent staring, the vampire spoke with an amused smirk written in his expression, “I’m glad you find my gaze so appealing, Mortal, but are you going to hypnotize yourself on them every time we lock eyes?”

“Sorry, I can’t really…” Tony began, trying to force himself to think coherently, but failing miserably. “… control it,” he finished after a moment of silence.

If Rudolph didn’t know better, he’d think the boy was under a vampire charm spell, but only the women of his kind possessed such a gift. However, this seemed to be more than a simple fascination, regardless of the circumstances. The boy was genuinely hypnotized by the other man’s eyes, and it seemed the longer Tony stared and the closer together they were, the stronger the effect. Testing this theory, Rudolph scooted back to the other side of the bed and blinked a few times. In response, Tony shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

“Woah, what was that?” Tony asked, feeling himself come out of the trance.

“I’m not quite sure myself. I’ve never encountered or even heard of such an effect,” the immortal answered, truthfully perplexed. “What do you experience when we lock eyes?” Rudolph wondered aloud.

“When I look closely at them, it’s almost as if I feel compelled by the color,” Tony began. “I feel like there’s some sort of mystery in the color, or perhaps some sort of secret to be uncovered. At first glance, it’s like I’m about to realize what I’m looking at, like there’s a clue hidden about you, or myself, or vampires, or magic held within in your gaze. However, the longer I look, the more incomprehensible everything becomes. My thoughts melt, and all I can think of is…” he trailed off.

“Is what?” Rudolph asked, fully intrigued by what the human had to say.

Tony bit his lip and hesitated for a moment before answering. “Well, all I can think of is how attractive you are,” he finished, shyly shifting to lie face down in the pillow to hide his embarrassment.

Rudolph laughed aloud and shifted to close some of the distance between himself and the mortal again, then placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Mortal, I sensed your infatuation with me since the moment we met. It’s indelibly written in your expression every time you look at me,” he explained. “Plus, your heartbeat always picks up when we touch,” he added with a chuckle.

The vampire pulled the blonde up to look at him. “It’s positively adorable,” he said as he leaned into Tony’s personal space. Rudolph gently lowered himself with the boy, resting Tony on his back and hovering over him, maintaining close eye contact all the while.

He could feel the man’s breath against his lips, and once Tony was completely lost in the vampire’s gaze, Rudolph finally closed the distance, locking his lips with the human’s.

The spell broke the instant Tony felt Rudolph’s lips lock with his own. His heart fluttered in his chest as he closed his eyes and reciprocated the kiss. He wrapped his arms around Rudolph’s neck and pulled him back down onto the bed.

Rudolph pulled away after a moment, but ran a hand through the boy’s blonde hair. “I’m afraid I must depart. I haven’t eaten in three days now, as I didn’t have the chance to last night, and you’re smelling awfully… _delicious,_ especially when your emotions are so passionate that your heart is racing like that,” he explained with a chuckle.

Tony was disappointed and slightly frightened at the implication of the vampire’s words, but he understood. “So, what… or who do you eat?” Tony asked nervously, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

Rudolph sat up at the foot of the bed, giving Tony a sad look. “Animal blood, usually, but it isn’t quite the same as a human’s, and I don’t exactly abstain from human blood,” he admitted. When Tony bit his lip, he continued, “However, if it puts your mind to rest, I always try to target violent criminals and humans already on the cusp of death. We can talk about it more when next we meet… if you would like to meet again, that is.”

It did put Tony’s mind at ease… well, at least partially. He had questions but figured he could gather his thoughts and ask the vampire next time they met. “Yes,” he nodded, “please. I _definitely_ would like to meet again, but tomorrow is my birthday, so I’ll be headed to Transylvania to celebrate, and we’re staying in a hotel near Bran Castle.”

Rudolph grinned, and floated over to put his boots and jacket back on. “I know the area well. My clan originates from Bran. Meet me in the Bran Cemetery at the stroke of midnight, and I shall answer your questions.” He placed a gentle hand on the blonde’s cheek before floating out the window and disappearing from sight for the second time.

Tony sighed and lied down under the duvet once again, questions buzzing through his head. He knew he should probably be afraid of the immortal, and he had a sinking feeling that he should run before he put himself in some sort of danger, but strong emotions of excitement, intrigue, and _lust_ suppressed his survival instinct. It was like there was something about the vampire calling out to the boy’s soul, pulling him in, and he had a feeling that whatever it was held the answer to the vampire’s crimson eyes as well.


	2. Tripwire

Tony and his parents woke up early the next morning, getting ready to depart on the journey to Romania. It would take about thirteen to fourteen hours, depending on traffic and breaks. Tony put together some clothes to bring with him in his backpack to last the next few days, and the family was out the door and in the car by seven in the morning.

Tony put in his earbuds to listen to music on his phone as he watched the landscape roll by for a few hours, but he grew bored of the monotony rather quickly. After the family stopped for lunch, the teenager opened the trunk of the car and grabbed his laptop from his backpack. Sitting back down in the car and opening the computer, he loaded the pictures he took on his phone since the trip began into his photo editing software. He adjusted the lighting and color of each photo to his liking for the next few hours and posted them on social media using his phone’s data connection before moving on to editing various other photos that he had taken in America.

Eventually his computer was dangerously low on battery, so he put it away and sighed as he stared out the window again. It was beginning to get dark, so he closed his eyes and took a nap until they arrived at the hotel, Casa din Bran.

The family checked into the hotel, which was actually very affordable even for how nice it was, so Tony’s parents paid for their son to have his own room. By the time they had finished checking in and bringing in their bags, it was less than two hours until midnight, so the family bought some sandwiches and pastries from the hotel lobby. They ate together in Tony’s parents’ room, but the boy excused himself to his own room shortly after he finished eating, claiming that he was exhausted, but his parents, being genuinely tired themselves, agreed and they bid each other goodnight.

***

Thirty minutes before midnight, Tony pulled on his red hoodie and stepped out of his room, latching the door quietly behind himself. He stepped as softly as he could down the hallway past his parents’ room, not wanting to wake them or alert them of his secret escapades. After finally stepping out in front of the hotel, he looked around to gather his bearings. He started walking to Bran Cemetery, which resided directly below the castle and whose entrance happened to lie just across the street from the hotel. As he arrived, Tony noted that much of the ‘cemetery’ was rather like a public park, with a walkway throughout and a small pond just off the main walkway.

The eighteen year old decided to wait for Rudolph deeper in the graveyard, so as to avoid being completely out in the open where the vampire may be seen, even though there were very few people roaming the small Transylvanian town at night. He walked around the pond and deeper along the path to a small memorial with a bench. _I can’t believe I’m waiting for an undead creature of the night to come join me in an ancient freaking graveyard!_ the boy thought to himself, _a beautiful, charming creature of the night… with those sanguine eyes that almost glow, and with that enticing, yet utterly terrifying, fanged grin that gets my heart racing, and that dark, brooding demeanor that makes him even more mysterious…_ he continued, getting lost in his thoughts. _Oh God, I have the_ biggest _crush on a vampire,_ he admitted to himself after a moment of daydreaming.

Despite his best effort to remain calm, Tony felt increasingly nervous as his thoughts shifted away from his vampiric crush and onto his surroundings. There was just something imposingly ominous and downright _creepy_ about sitting in an old graveyard in the dark of night next to a medieval fortress that is world-renowned for being the birthplace of vampires and home to some of the darkest, most twisted acts of torture in human history. _It’s only natural; anyone would be nervous!_ he reassured himself.

Just as he was starting to get used to the oppressive darkness of the night and the ominous decor of the graveyard, Tony nearly jumped out of his skin and let out a silent scream as, right at midnight, a nearby church bell tolled loudly. He cursed under his breath and scrubbed a hand over his face when suddenly he felt a hand rest on his shoulder and smelled the familiar scent of undeath envelop him. It was a subtle fragrance, reminding him of a mossy forest floor and earthy petrichor while simultaneously being the slightest bit sweet to balance out the scent, and Tony was downright intoxicated by the aroma.

“Such flighty creatures, you mortals,” came a voice and chuckle that Tony immediately recognized as Rudolph’s, “Happy belated birthday, Tony Thompson.”

The blonde human smiled and turned to face his new vampiric friend. “I guess you’re technically right,” Tony said, “but we’re not really celebrating until later today anyway because we were so busy driving all day,” he explained. “When’s your birthday, anyway? Do vampires celebrate their birthdays?”

Rudolph floated next to Tony and sat down on the cool stone bench. “My birthday, Mortal, happens to have been yesterday,” he said matter-of-factly, “and, yes, we celebrate our birthdays, but I _hate_ mine.”

“No way! We have the same birthday?!” Tony said incredulously. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” he asked, pouting slightly at the vampire.

“I _really_ do not wish for it to become a grand ordeal,” Rudolph explained with a grimace, and Tony got the impression that he would have never known the date of Rudolph’s birthday if he hadn’t asked directly.

“Very well, Immortal,” Tony said, mimicking the vampire’s idiolect with a grin.

Rudolph smiled and laughed at the human’s mimicry, but after a moment his face relaxed into a slightly more serious expression. “I promised you answers, and I’m sure your mind is abuzz with questions,” he said, honoring his word from the previous night, “but once I tell you my kind’s secrets, I will be forced to kill you,” he stated in a deadpan voice as he looked the boy in the eyes.

Tony’s expression fell and he swallowed hard. “Kill me?” he said softly, “I-I wouldn’t tell anybody!” he added quickly.

After a moment of faux-contemplation, Rudolph broke his façade and laughed before placing his hand on the human’s cheek and inching a bit closer. “A joke, Mortal,” he explained, looking him in the eyes again.

“Good. Because friends don’t kill friends,” Tony said, crossing his arms and looking away before he could be hypnotized again.

Rudolph let out a small, surprised gasp. “Friends?” he repeated with a questioning tone.

“Yes, friends,” Tony answered, punching Rudolph’s arm playfully, to which the vampire smiled coyly and rubbed the point of contact.

“Well then _,_ what would my new _friend’s_ first question be?” he asked, returning the two to the subject-at-hand.

“The question that has been at the front of my mind is, uh,” Tony began, carefully choosing his wording so as not to offend the vampire, “well, how do you choose which humans to eat?” the boy finished, looking at the other man with curiosity and a slight pit forming in his stomach.

“First, you must understand something crucial about my kind,” Rudolph said, pulling the boy in close to himself and wrapping an arm around his shoulders, attempting to make the boy feel safer. “We are not meant to consume the blood of animals,” he continued. “While it is sufficient to nourish us for a time, it is barely tolerable and never satisfying. I suppose it would be the equivalent of a human consuming only the bare minimum amount of a single food that they do not enjoy.”

Tony nodded in understanding and allowed the vampire to continue. “Additionally, just as a mortal consuming a single food would become malnourished, so too does a vampire consuming only the blood of animals. In order to maintain our strength and sanity, we must consume the blood of humans approximately once a lunar cycle, otherwise…” he trailed off.

“Otherwise…?” Tony questioned, encouraging the vampire to tell him everything.

“If a vampire goes too long without human blood, we enter a feeding frenzy of sorts. We become irrational and bloodthirsty until we overindulge that hunger with reckless abandon,” Rudolph answered with a sigh.

Tony shuddered at the thought and wrapped his arm around the vampire’s midsection and laid his head against the immortal’s shoulder. Rationally, he knew he was cozying up to the very being responsible for his fear, but he _trusted_ Rudolph, damn it.

“So, to directly answer your question, I consume the blood of humans that are either irredeemable in character or on the verge of death,” the vampiric immortal explained. “As for the irredeemable humans, I have consumed those who I have witnessed murder innocents, who have forced themselves upon others who were helpless to stop them from doing so, and those who have physically or mentally subjugated the ones they are meant to love and care for.”

Tony felt rather relieved at Rudolph’s choice of targets, but asked, “What about the humans who are about to die?”

Rudolph shook his head and gave Tony a gentle squeeze. “Typically, humans under such a category are those who have gotten severely injured while hiking in mountainous terrain. Our kind will smell the spilt blood from leagues away, and if they have not been rescued by nightfall, it is extremely rare that they would survive the night. By the time I arrive, they usually are unconscious with several broken bones and other severe injuries, or the wildlife has already killed them and began to consume their bodies. I consider it a mercy killing, but I do not take their lives lightly,” the vampire finished and looked down at the blonde, reading his expression.

Tony felt slightly uneasy, but he tried his best to understand the situation from a vampire’s point of view. He looked up and made eye contact with Rudolph before remembering to be careful and rested his cheek against the immortal’s chest instead. “So,” he began, “do other vampires hunt humans the same way you do?”

Rudolph sighed again and placed a chaste kiss to the top of the blonde’s head. “No, most do not,” he admitted. “While they must consume human blood discreetly so as not to draw attention to our kind, most members of my clan do not discriminate like I do. In fact, they consider me weak and often jest about my supposed ‘fondness’ of mortals,” he said with a grimace, but couldn’t help but acknowledge that his family may not be too far off the mark, given he had just become _friends_ with a mortal, even going so far as to kiss and caress the boy.

Tony swallowed at the prospect that most vampires were more bloodthirsty than his newfound immortal friend. He took a moment to process all this information before asking his final question of the night, “I suppose my last question for now is that, well, don’t the people you bite also turn into vampires?”

Rudolph smiled in amusement and rubbed the mortal’s arm as he held him against his body. “Very rarely, yes, but in order for such a transformation to occur, we must leave enough blood for them to survive so that the human’s heart may circulate the venom throughout their body to complete the metamorphosis. However, in order to keep our kind hidden from the eye of mortals, we have not purposefully turned a mortal or expanded our numbers in three hundred years,” he finished, looking down at the boy.

“That’s right, little brother,” came a voice from behind the two friends, causing Rudolph to bristle, his eyes going wide, “three hundred years as of yesterday, your _birthday,_ ” chided the unfamiliar voice with the same accent as Rudolph’s.

Rudolph jumped to his feet, shifting so that Tony was behind him as he faced the other vampire, hissing. “Gregory!” he shouted, “You followed me!”

“You have been acting so _strangely_ lately that I decided to see where you keep flying off to at night,” Gregory explained, frowning as he landed on his feet. “ _Honestly_ brother, I knew you held some sort of sanctimony about killing mortals, but I would have never suspected you were _fraternizing_ with them.”

“Tony is nothing like the mortals that our clan speaks of! He even saved my _life,_ Gregory,” Rudolph responded, defending the boy.

Gregory sighed, his expression softening slightly. “I understand that you may feel indebted to this boy, but your… _alliance_ ,” he said, shifting uncomfortably at the thought that the relationship between the human and vampire may be more than platonic, “risks unveiling not only our entire _clan_ , but the existence of our kind to the mortal world. Now,” the older vampire continued, “step aside, and your big brother will clean up this mess for you,” he commanded, his eyes narrowing as he stepped forward.

“No!” Rudolph bellowed as he leapt forth and tackled his brother into the ground. “Tony, run!” the younger vampire shouted. “I’ll hold him off, just run!”

Tony only hesitated for half a moment as he scrambled to his feet but quickly realized there was no way he could defend himself against a vampire. With one last glance at the two immortal brothers grappling each other, Tony turned and began to run.

His heart racing and adrenaline high, the human sprinted along the dirt path that led back to the pond and around to the main path. Not daring to look behind himself, he focused solely on escaping as quickly as he could. He reached the pond and skittered as he turned sharply at the fork to continue along the path.

Just as he was halfway around the pond, Tony felt a heavy force tackle him into the water. He yelped and struggled against the grip of the vampire, but the immortal possessed far more strength than the human boy. Splashing about in the shallow water, Tony was about to call out to Rudolph when he felt something sharp pierce his neck. He gasped and thrashed against Gregory, but the older immortal had a firm grip on the boy.

Tony could feel every inch of the sharp, elongated fangs dig into his flesh. The blood poured from his neck, but the vampire was exsanguinating the boy faster than he could bleed. Having bitten the boy in the midst of the struggle, Gregory barely missed the boy’s jugular, but Tony quickly became dizzy and felt his strength draining from his body.

Seconds later, Rudolph came flying into Tony’s fading view, the younger vampire charging his brother with every bit of his strength and managing to rip the older immortal from the human’s flesh. Tony watched with blurry eyes just long enough to see Rudolph snap his own brother’s neck and Gregory going limp before the human lost consciousness.

***

Rudolph dropped his brother and cursed repeatedly as he flew over to the blonde human. His blood was spilling into the water, and he realized the boy had gone unconscious. _No, no, no_ , he repeated to himself as he held the boy’s neck. He only had one choice to save his friend’s life: turn the human.

Rudolph only had a moment to decide before it would be too late for the boy to survive, so he pulled his hand away from the boy’s neck and quickly sank his teeth into the pierced and ripped flesh that his brother had torn. The vampire painstakingly fought against his own overwhelming instincts to drink the boy’s blood and pulled his teeth out of the boy’s neck, leaving the venom behind. Rudolph proceeded to lick the exterior of the wound once in quick fashion to further envenom the boy, but he could not bear to lick the wound again as the visceral urge to drink the boy’s blood had become too strong.

Rudolph pulled the boy out of the water and held him in his arms, his hand clamped on the wound as he helplessly watched the boy’s shallow breathing. _Oh, Gods, please…_ he thought to himself, his eyes burning and a crushing weight forming in his chest, _please do not let him die._ After a several moments of painful anticipation, Rudolph slowly pulled his hand away from the wound and sighed in relief as the wound had closed; the venom was serving its purpose.

Rudolph gently shook the blonde, trying to bring him back to consciousness. “Tony, Tony, please…” he pleaded with the boy and any higher power that would listen, “please, Tony, wake up.”

After a few moments of the gentle rousing, Tony blinked up to the vampire blearily. “Rudolph…?” he asked, his voice weak.

“Yes, Tony, I’m here,” Rudolph answered, a tear falling down his cheek in relief as he held the boy close.

“It burns, Rudolph…” the boy said, his eyes squeezing shut as he shivered, “like fire and ice… my whole body…” he managed to say.

“I know, Tony, I know… it will be okay… you’re okay…” he said, comforting the boy. “Where are you staying, Tony? Please, can you remember the inn?” he pressed, his tone still worried. He knew he had to get the boy dry and safe.

Tony blinked up at the vampire, and cleared his throat feebly. “Casa din Bran… 204…” he managed to get out before Rudolph scooped up the boy and began flying toward the town.

The vampire thanked the gods when he saw the sign for the hotel and realized the boy was staying just across the street. Flying above the street lights and the lanterns that illuminated the buildings, Rudolph flew to the boy’s hotel room in stealth. Finding the door locked, the immortal cursed under his breath and flew around to the other side of the building, where he pushed the window open, flying inside and closing it shut behind himself, along with the curtains.

The immortal quickly grabbed a towel from the bathroom, and started pulling the soaked clothes off the boy. He sighed and grimaced at his own intrusion of the other man’s privacy, but he had to keep the body alive, at least long enough for the transformation to finish. After having disrobed the blonde, the vampire gently but swiftly toweled Tony dry. Lying the teenager on the mattress, Rudolph quickly removed his boots and jacket before joining the injured boy in his bed and wrapping them both in the blankets. He held the boy’s frigid body against himself from behind and pressed his face into the back of the boy’s head.

“You’ll be okay, Tony, I promise,” the vampire said soothingly, holding the boy close.

***

Rudolph was growing increasingly worried. It had been a few hours, and Tony had not even begun to transform. While the boy’s body had warmed up within the first twenty minutes, the venom should have finished transforming the boy within an hour, stopping his heart. However, Tony’s heart was still beating, and the color had returned to his complexion rather than draining away. The boy looked as vibrant and as alive as ever, but there was absolutely no possible way for this to happen. _Tony had even felt the venom pulsing through his veins!_ the vampire thought to himself.

Before he had much more time to contemplate the matter, the blonde stirred in his arms.

***

“Rudolph?” Tony asked groggily, rubbing his eyes and turning around to face the vampire. “What happened?” he asked with a groan. “Am I… am I alive?” he asked, confused. As far as Tony could tell, he felt normal aside from a pounding headache and several sore bruises along his body.

“I…” the vampire began but was unsure how to answer the boy. After a moment of confused silence, the vampire answered, “Yes, Mortal, you’re alive.” Rudolph couldn’t help but smile despite his confusion and continued worry. He leaned in and ran his hand through Tony’s hair before placing his palm on the back of the boy’s head. Closing the distance between the two, Rudolph shut his eyes, kissing the blonde passionately and wrapping his other arm around the boy.

Tony’s beating heart picked up in pace as he closed his eyes and reciprocated the vampire’s kiss. He wrapped his arms around Rudolph and licked at the vampire’s bottom lip. Rudolph parted his lips, and licked at Tony’s tongue in return. The vampire gently bit at Tony’s bottom lip before pressing his tongue forward against it. He proceeded to slip his tongue further into the boy’s mouth as they made out.

After several moments, Tony finally pulled away, clearing his throat with a blush. “I just have one question,” he stated.

“What’s that, Mortal?” Rudolph asked.

“Why am I naked?” he asked, covering himself with a pillow.

Rudolph fell onto his back with a burst of laughter, covering his eyes with the crook of his elbow as he took a moment to regain his composure. “ _That’s_ your only question?” he asked rhetorically with a chuckle. “You really are the _strangest_ mortal.”

“Okay, maybe not my _only_ question,” Tony replied, getting out of the bed while holding the pillow to himself and shuffling over to his backpack. He pulled on a fresh pair of underwear and his pajamas before climbing back into bed. “It’s just embarrassing, okay?” he asked rhetorically.

“I apologize. I disrobed you solely because you were frigid, soaked to the bone, and you lost far too much blood,” the vampire explained. “I do hope you will—” he began.

“I know, it’s okay,” Tony interrupted, “I just hope you weren’t disappointed with what you saw,” Tony said, trying to pass his tone off as flirtatious, but he genuinely felt self-conscious. The vampire was so attractive, so _incredibly_ handsome, and Tony was, well, just a human: a boring, infatuated, dorky human.

Rudolph rolled his eyes and pulled the human back into his arms. “I did not betray your dignity so much as to marvel in your nudity while I was keeping you out of the clutches of death,” the vampire said truthfully. In fact, he was so terrified that he might lose Tony that he could only focus on the boy’s health and vitals, not something so objectifying and opportunistic as admiring his naked body.

“Oh,” Tony said simply, looking away. He was relieved that the vampire genuinely cared about him enough to respect him even when he was unconscious, but for some ridiculous, asinine, absurd, and stupid reason, he was slightly disappointed too.

Sensing Tony’s disappointment and self-consciousness, Rudolph lifted the other boy’s chin with the edge of his index finger and looked him in the eyes, “However, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to press my lips into every inch of your beautiful form and explore every facet of your body when you are feeling better,” he added, pulling Tony against his chest before the boy became too deeply hypnotized by the immortal’s eyes.

Tony shivered and blushed at the implication of the vampire’s words. They lay there for a moment before Tony suddenly sat up and looked at Rudolph with an urgent look in his eyes, “Did you… did you _kill_ your brother? Did you kill _your own brother_ to save me, Rudolph?” Tony asked, the memory of his last fading moment before losing consciousness suddenly leaping to the front of his mind.

Rudolph furrowed his brow and cocked his head. He wasn’t sure why the human would care about the wellbeing of his brother, who had tried to _kill_ the boy. “Luckily, our kind are not so fragile. Thus, no, I did not kill Gregory. He will have long recovered by now,” Rudolph explained. “It takes much more to kill a vampire than a broken neck.”

Tony felt very relieved that he didn’t force Rudolph to kill his own brother, even though said brother tried his damnedest to murder the human. He lied back down and stared at the ceiling, finally allowing the events of the night to soak in. “So… why am I still human?” Tony asked, confused, “and why is my neck healed?” he continued, pressing his hand to where the bite had been. “I remember the venom, Rudolph! It burned every inch of my body, but it also felt like ice flowing through my veins,” Tony recalled, another chill running up his spine.

“I… I do not know. I am beyond perplexed myself. The venom did course through you, and it healed your flesh to fulfill its purpose before you could perish. I can fathom no reason your heart should continue to beat… yet it does,” the vampire said gently, resting a hand on the boy’s chest to emphasize his point.

Tony hummed in contemplation, rubbing his arms as he remembered the fiery agony that had ran rampant through his flesh only hours earlier.

After a moment, the blonde looked over to the clock on his bedside stand and realized that dawn was only a couple hours away. “I really, _really_ do not want to face the day in a few hours,” Tony said with a groan. “I feel like I’ve been to Hell and back, and that’s only barely an exaggeration!” he continued, rubbing a hand over his eyes.

“I don’t want to see you go again… I need you right now…” he added quietly, shifting back toward the vampire and pressing his face into the older man’s neck.

Rudolph’s chest swelled with the desire to protect the human and shield him from all the wrongs in the world. “I promise not to abandon you, Tony. I will stay by your side for as long as you wish,” he assured the boy, running his fingers through the boy’s blonde hair. He wanted nothing more than to remain with Tony, not only to ensure the boy’s health, but to simply hold him against himself and comfort him.

“Thanks, Rudolph. I am _so_ playing hooky from my own birthday tomorrow,” Tony said, wishing nothing more than to cuddle the vampire and recover from the traumatic ordeal he had just barely survived.

“Playing hooky?” the immortal repeated, confused.

“I’ll come up with some excuse to skip out on my birthday plans,” Tony explained with a yawn. “I am _so_ exhausted, and _sore_ ,” he added, drawing out the words for emphasis before rolling away from the vampire once more to grab his phone off the floor.

 _I am just now heading to bed,_ Tony texted his parents, _been up all night puking. Don’t think that gas station food agreed with me on the way here. Please get breakfast and/or lunch without me. Love you._

Tony made sure the blinds were properly closed and that the ‘do not disturb’ sign was hung on the outer door handle before returning to the vampire, scooting in close and pressing himself against the taller man as Rudolph wrapped his arm around him. He felt safe and comfortable, falling asleep within a few short moments.

“Good day, Mortal,” Rudolph whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of his head and lying back to fall asleep himself.


	3. Yearnings

Tony awoke shortly after midday, looking over to see Rudolph sound asleep next to him. Tony smiled to himself and tried his best not to disturb the vampire as he scooted out of bed and stood up with a stretch. He checked his phone to see a few texts from his mom:

_Oh no let me know when you wake up and how you’re feeling_

_Do you have a fever?_

_Your dad and I are heading to lunch. Text me if you want something_

Tony was relieved that she didn’t have too many questions and took her son’s word for it.

 _Just woke up. No fever as far as I know. I still feel pretty nauseous though. Not hungry yet._ Tony responded less than truthfully before making his way to the bathroom to take a much-needed shower.

He latched the door behind himself, stripping down, and looking over his body for any bruises or scrapes from the violent struggle that had occurred only hours prior. He had quite a few bruises along his ribs and arms from Gregory grabbing him with supernatural strength, but luckily none of them would be visible while he was dressed.

What stuck out to Tony, however, was the mark on his neck where the vampires had bitten him. In a pattern that vaguely resembled a bite mark but was far too ripped and jagged to be recognizable as such, Tony’s neck had a silvery sheen that appeared to almost glow. As he looked closer, he could swear he saw the silvery mark shimmering and flowing in an ethereal, barely-visible manner. The closest thing he could compare it to would be a swirling mist, but it was completely self-contained in the mark. The boy pressed his hand to the silvery shimmer but felt nothing and attempted to wipe it off without success. He had no idea how he would explain the mark to his parents. He couldn’t even pass it off as a tattoo. _What kind of tattoo shimmered and flowed like mist?_ he thought to himself.

Tony stepped into the shower, cleaning up and enjoying the warm water splashing against his skin. He let the water wash away some of the stress of yesterday and soothe his sore, bruised body. He scrubbed his neck, but he had a feeling that nothing he did would get rid of the imprint.

The human realized to his own surprise that, despite everything, he actually felt rather invigorated. His headache had faded away, his mood was rather upbeat, and he felt well-rested. He was, however, starving. He would have asked his mom for food, but he didn’t want to risk his parents coming to his room and Rudolph being discovered, or worse, burned by the sunlight.

After several minutes of contemplation, Tony finally shut off the water and stepped out of the shower. He dried himself and wrapped the towel around his waist before stepping back into the bedroom and getting dressed in something other than pajamas. To his disappointment, his favorite red hoodie _definitely_ needed laundered. He put on a different jacket instead that had a somewhat stiff collar despite anticipating the heat of the summer sun, hoping that perhaps his parents wouldn’t notice the shifting silver stain on his neck.

It was only about one o’clock in the afternoon, so Tony expected Rudolph to sleep for several more hours. He walked to the desk where his laptop was plugged in and sat down to entertain himself until Rudolph woke up.

After about an hour, his mom texted him again.

 _We’re on our way back to the hotel. Brought you some food in case you got hungry. Did you still want to do the castle tour tonight?_ she asked.

Tony groaned and tried to think of a way to respond that was not suspicious, but finally decided he couldn’t avoid his parents all day. _Thanks. I will come meet you in your room to eat and yeah the castle tour still sounds really fun,_ he replied.

He figured Rudolph would need time to go hunt anyway, and the castle tour was the biggest reason he wanted to come to Bran, so the two could separate until later that night. He gently shook the vampire awake to make a plan.

“Good afternoon, mister,” Tony greeted the groggy vampire, to which the immortal grunted in response.

“It’s so early,” the nocturnal man complained, blinking up at the human, “and I can tell it’s still _bright._ ”

“I know. I just wanted to let you know I need to head out and meet with my parents for at least part of the day,” Tony explained. “I should be back here a few hours after sundown if you want to go hunt while I’m out,” the human suggested.

Rudolph simply nodded in agreement before pulling the covers over his head.

Tony laughed quietly before stepping out of the room. He made sure the door was closed and locked before proceeding to his parents’ room.

***

After spending the afternoon and evening celebrating his birthday with his family and exploring the attractions of the small Transylvanian town, even _Bran Castle_ itself, Tony finally retired to his own room about an hour before midnight and lied on the bed. He sighed in contentment and grinned. _Despite everything,_ he thought, _today was pretty great._

The boy closed his eyes and decided to sleep until Rudolph finished hunting. At around three o’clock in the morning, Tony awoke to Rudolph gently running his fingers through his blonde hair. The human hummed in satisfaction before looking up. “Did you have a good hunt?” he asked with a yawn, sitting up to face the immortal.

“I am fed,” Rudolph answered softly.

“Good,” Tony replied. “I’m sure you were starving after last night.”

Rudolph nodded in agreement, but Tony couldn’t help but notice the troubled look on the vampire’s face. “What’s wrong?” he asked, beginning to worry.

“Gregory returned to our clan last night and informed them of what transpired,” Rudolph answered, “and you and I now have quite a bit of trouble at hand.”

Tony’s heart sunk in his chest. He hadn’t even considered that Gregory would be alerting his entire clan about Tony and Rudolph. _Why wouldn’t he?_ Tony asked himself, _What did I expect?_

“What sort of trouble?” Tony asked, but he already had a good idea of what Rudolph was about to say.

“Well,” Rudolph continued in a grim tone, “the clan currently believes you to have been transformed or to have died. Gregory knows you would not have survived without my venom.”

“How do you know all this?” Tony asked, worry beginning to well in his stomach.

“I returned to my family’s catacomb and eavesdropped on their rather… _animated_ conversations,” the vampire explained with a sigh. “Let’s just say they are _eagerly_ awaiting my return.”

Tony hummed and pondered the quandary for a moment before asking, “Why didn't you just tell them that you let me die?”

“I intend to, but Gregory will be suspicious. If the clan finds out about your survival, they will be… implicated,” the immortal explained.

“Meaning… a whole pack of vampires will be on my trail?” Tony asked in Rudolph’s own words before swallowing hard.

“Correct,” the vampire admitted, sighing. “I believe the only way to keep you safe would be our… dissociation.”

“You mean…” Tony began, but got choked up. “No! I don’t want to lose you. I don’t care if they hunt me! Let them hunt me!” the teenager pleaded.

“I do not wish to hurt you, Tony,” Rudolph said with sorrow in his voice, “but I value your life more than our mutual passion.”

Tears started flowing down Tony’s face. “Please, Rudolph, don’t do this,” he begged, sobs breaking his voice. Rudolph pulled the human into a tight hug, tears of his own flowing past his cheeks and into the teenager’s hair.

“I cannot let them take your life, Tony,” he insisted, his chest wrenching in heartbreak at his own words. The mortal was already growing on the vampire, and he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t already developed romantic feelings for the strange boy.

“Let me talk to them,” Tony suggested in a choked voice. “Let me promise to keep their secret. If they kill me, at least I tried!” he implored.

“They would not listen, Tony. They are stuck in their ways. I am truly sorry,” the vampire replied with genuine remorse before letting go of the boy and floating in front of him.

“So, that’s it?” Tony began, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. “You’re leaving me with nothing but some sort of enchanted scar?” he asked, pointing at the silver impression on his neck for emphasis.

“Scar?” Rudolph replied in surprise, sitting down on the mattress to inspect the boy’s neck more closely. He ran the back of his fingers over the spot that Tony indicated, furrowed his brow, and cocked his head. After a moment of silence, he finally spoke, “Tony, there’s nothing on your neck.”

“What do you mean?” Tony asked. “Of course there is,” he countered, standing up to go look in the mirror of the bathroom. As he peered into his reflection, he could still see the silvery mark shifting upon his skin, a memory of what had happened only a day before. The boy called for Rudolph to come look at the mark for himself.

Rudolph, still confused, floated into the bathroom to inspect the boy and his reflection. “I’m afraid the scar eludes my sight,” he admitted gingerly. “Are you feeling well, Mortal?” Rudolph asked, turning the blonde to face him.

It was obvious to Tony that Rudolph genuinely couldn’t see the mark given the look of concern and confusion written all over the vampire’s expression. “I...” Tony began, “I don’t think my parents can see it either. They would have definitely mentioned something if they could see it. Maybe I _am_ going crazy...” he said, trailing off.

“Listen, it will be okay,” Rudolph said in an attempt to comfort the boy, reaching out to hold his hand. “There is much about this situation that continues to puzzle us both,” he added.

Just then, Tony’s thoughts seemed to click into place. “I think you’re exactly right,” he said quietly, mostly to himself.

“I think it _is_ a puzzle. Think about it!” the blonde exclaimed. “The fae guide fate, right? And they led us together?” the excited teenager began, getting his thoughts together.

Rudolph just nodded and Tony grabbed his hand to lead him back into the bedroom. They sat down on the bed as Tony continued, “And your eyes! They’re the only color I’ve ever been able to see.”

Rudolph nodded again, “That’s right, and they have an intoxicating effect on you.”

“Right!” the human agreed. “And then, when you tried to turn me, the venom failed,” Tony said with a grin. “And now...”

“And now there is a cicatrix on your neck that is only visible to your own eye,” Rudolph concluded for him. “What does it look like?” the vampire questioned, still attempting to see the elusive mark.

Tony took a moment to describe the silvery mark that seemed to shift and swirl as Rudolph listened intently, trying to make any sense of the situation.

“So, what is the answer to this puzzle?” Rudolph asked finally. “What is its purpose?”

Tony hummed and furrowed his brow as he pondered the quandary for a moment. “I don’t know why, at least not yet, but I don’t think any of this was coincidence. I think we were meant to come together. I think it was, for lack of better words, destined to be,” the boy concluded, looking up at Rudolph hopefully.

“Tony...” the vampire began, frightened at the prospect of continuing to endanger the boy’s life by simply being near him.

“You have to admit there is more going on than meets the eye!” Tony pleaded.

Rudolph sighed and pulled the blonde against him. “As fantastical as it sounds, I do believe you. Perhaps we have more to gain together than we have to lose,” he admitted in light of the prior events. “Still, I must return home before my clan comes searching for me. I will not be able to return to you while you visit Transylvania; there is far too great a risk of Gregory or another clanmate following me to you.”

Tony’s heart leapt in his chest and he hugged Rudolph tight. “Deal! You got it!” he agreed, laughing through tears of joy. “I will be back in Germany in three days. You have to come see me straight away, okay?” he asked.

Rudolph held the boy to himself, shedding a tear himself as he felt an immense weight lift from his chest. “Of course, Mortal,” he agreed. “I shall count the hours until we meet again.”

“Will you at least hold me until I fall asleep again tonight?” the boy asked hopefully, wanting to make the most of his time with Rudolph before they’d be apart for days without contact.

“I would love to,” the immortal answered before pulling off his boots and jacket. He leapt forth into the bed, playfully tackling Tony and receiving a surprised yelp and giggle in return as the vampire nuzzled the human.

“Sleep well, Mortal,” the vampire whispered, running his hand through the boy’s hair as he held him to his chest. Tony just hummed, his heart content and his mind at ease as he drifted back to sleep in the immortal’s embrace.

***

Once the mortal was deeply asleep, Rudolph gently laid him down and floated out of the bed. The vampire quietly pushed the window open and slipped out of the room. He took one last glance at the human, the mortal who gave the child of night butterflies in his stomach every time he got that certain look on his face: it was like Tony was admiring the most beautiful work of art he’d ever seen, like Rudolph was the center of his universe, and Rudolph was certain that the boy was completely unaware of it. Rudolph’s chest swelled with that increasingly-familiar sensation, the feeling that he had to protect the boy at all costs. He turned and flew toward his family’s catacomb in a nearby village of Transylvania with a determined look in his eye. He would do what he must to keep the boy safe.

After about half an hour of flight, Rudolph finally landed in his family’s cemetery. He walked into the catacombs and braced himself for the coming onslaught of questions.

“Rudolph!” his parents yelled in unison once they noticed their son slowly walking down the stairs that led to the main chamber, flying across the grand room to their son.

“Is it true what Gregory has informed us? Have you been fraternizing with a mortal?” his father asked. Freda Sackville-Bagg placed her hands on her hips with a disappointed look as Frederick Sackville-Bagg glowered at his son. “And,” the elder vampire added angrily, “you _shattered_ your own brother’s _neck_ to attempt to save the… the _human_?”

Gregory was simply sitting on the far side of the chamber with the youngest member of the vampiric clan, Anna Sackville-Bagg, as they watched the exchange.

“Yes, sir…” Rudolph answered, looking at his feet.

“How could you be so reckless, so _foolish_?” his father began. Frederick continued to lecture Rudolph on the dangers of revealing the existence of their kind to mortals for several minutes before finally asking, “and the boy, what of his fate?”

“I did not turn Tony. He is no vampire,” Rudolph replied, carefully choosing his words. He rubbed his eyes and sniffled as he stared at the ground in mock-heartbreak to further the deception.

“So, the human surely perished?” Frederick clarified.

Rudolph simply looked away, scrunching his face and swallowed hard as he wiped his eyes with the crook of his elbow.

“It is for the best, my son,” said the patriarch with a softened expression, placing his hand on Rudolph’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. While he was tempted to ground the young vampire, Frederick figured the ordeal and his son’s… _heartbreak_ were sufficient punishment. As far as he knew, Rudolph would not be leaving to meet any mortals again.

Rudolph simply shrugged off his father’s hand and floated to his coffin in the northern chamber, ignoring the stares from his siblings, especially not wanting to face Gregory after having purposefully broken his neck and gotten away with it without punishment.

After closing the lid of the coffin, the vampire allowed himself a small smile. He had successfully led his family to believe that Tony was dead, and Tony would be safe as long as he could maintain the deception, though he had a sinking suspicion that Gregory would not so easily let this go.


	4. Sybil

On the last day of the Thompsons’ trip to Transylvania, Tony and his parents perused the shopping area of the tourist town, stopping at an ice cream shop. Tony was itching to explore alone, and he asked his parents if he could browse the shops on his own while they sat and ate their ice cream. He figured he could spend some of the birthday money burning a hole in his pocket.

“As long as you’re careful and stick to the tourist areas,” his mom compromised, “and we can just meet back at the hotel.”

“You got it, Mom,” Tony agreed as he was planning on shopping anyway.

Tony headed out to walk through the shopping district. He kept his eye open for anything that may be of interest. Many of the stores, however, were very touristy and gimmicky. He eventually found a clothing store and stepped inside, reciprocating the greeting of the clerk standing at the counter by the door.

Browsing the racks, Tony smiled to himself as he grabbed a set of sleek and silky black pajamas with white trim and white buttons. Tony believed them to be rather dignified while still being soft and comfortable.

 _It’s not_ technically _a birthday gift if it’s not your birthday_ , Tony thought to himself as he decided to purchase the pajamas for Rudolph. _He really needs something to sleep in besides those stiff skinny jeans and that thick sweater, and the set would match Rudolph’s dark aesthetic perfectly_.

The teenager checked out at the register and stepped out of the shop, bag in hand. He decided to continue down a narrower path that branched off of the main strip hoping to find more niche stores, but the shops became fewer and farther between as he continued. After a couple minutes of exploring with little luck on the current path, Tony turned around to return to the main shopping strip. As he did, he noticed a small little store tucked away between two buildings, but he could have _sworn_ that there was an alley there just a moment ago.

The shop was rather crooked and seemed out of place in the Romanian town, something more akin to a lopsided cottage than the surrounding medieval architecture. In the windows were drawn black curtains, but a large sign in white lettering simply read ‘FORTUNES’. His curiosity getting the best of him, Tony walked up to the strange shop and stepped inside, greeted at first only by the chime of the doorbell and the scent of what Tony assumed to be incense.

Tony looked around to see cabinets lined with all sorts of herbs, crystals, and various… curios? He wasn’t sure what to call them, but he noticed objects such as hourglasses, crystal pendants, eyeglasses, and many other articles that he didn’t recognize. In the center of the room was a round table with a chair on each side.

“Hello?” he called after a moment, unsure if the shop was open for business.

“Hello, dear!” came a rather friendly and inviting voice from behind a curtained area directly across from the doorway. Tony shifted his gaze to where the voice was coming from. “Please, have a seat and help yourself to the tea! I will be out shortly,” she said.

 _Tea?_ Shifting his attention back to the table in the center of the room, he was shocked to see a tea set with a kettle steaming away on the table. _That was_ definitely _not there a second ago,_ he thought to himself as he took a seat on the side of the table nearest the door.

Against his better judgement, Tony poured himself a cup of tea. He blew on it a bit to cool the beverage before lifting it to take a sip. The liquid was very herbal and earthy but quite pleasant. It had a slightly floral note to it that kept it from being overbearing, and he felt quite relaxed by the overall atmosphere of the shop. He took another sip, peering into his cup to take note of the dark tea and to try to discern any sort of herbs in it. As he set the cup back down and looked up, he jumped in his seat as there was suddenly a woman sitting at the table across from him.

“Woah, how did you—” he began.

“Oh, incredible tea, I know! It’s a secret family recipe though, I’m afraid,” the woman replied with a smile.

Tony took a second to take in the woman’s appearance. She was at least seventy or eighty years old, Tony guessed. She looked wisened with deep wrinkles and lines throughout her kind, round face. She sat with a slight hunch and had shoulder-length white hair that was filled with various flowers, feathers, and sprigs of herbs. She was wearing a dress that had flowing three-quarter sleeves and a deep v-neck, large brass earrings in the shape of feathers, and multiple metal bangles along her wrists.

“I am Sybil,” the woman said, introducing herself. “You must be the young boy, Tony.”

Tony looked around, trying to figure out how she could have possibly known his name. “How did you—” he began.

“The forests have whispered your name since before your arrival, my dear,” she said, as if it were as simple as that. “Now,” she began, “I’m sure you are eagerly anticipating your fortune. That is, after all, why you’re here,” she said with a knowing grin.

Tony just nodded, awe-struck at how incredibly surreal this experience had been already. She held out her hand for Tony to hold. He placed his palm in hers, and she clasped her other hand on Tony’s as well. She closed her eyes and concentrated.

“I see an epic romance unlike any other budding before you, the likes of which shall entangle your fate with not only the one whom you love, but the whole of the Court of Night until the day you die. But this, you knew,” she remarked to Tony’s amazement. He began to wonder if this was all a dream, but, despite the hazy effect the incense and ambience had on his mind, he knew he wasn’t asleep.

“His love protects you now as your own powers grow, but soon your abilities will prove symbiotic to his,” she prophesied, finally opening her eyes to look at Tony.

“My powers?” Tony interrupted.

“All will be revealed in short time, my dear,” she said vaguely, “but you have already seen the beginning,” she added, motioning to the boy’s neck.

“You can see it?” Tony asked incredulously.

“I can see many things, my dear,” she answered with a laugh. “Otherwise I would not be much of a seer, now would I?”

“I suppose not, but what does it mean?” Tony pushed further, hoping to finally get some answers about the strange events of the past few days.

“It is the key to your destiny, and it represents the spark that began your transformation,” she said without answering much at all.

“Transformation? But, I’m still human,” Tony questioned, more confused than before the session began.

“The venom, my dear, is a catalyst,” she replied, “one which indoctrinates the individual to the Court of Night, but, as fate would have it, you were already a member,” she said with a smile. “I can see countless questions are on your mind, but I may only answer one of them, then I’m afraid we must part ways, lest I tip the scales of fate too far,” she finished cryptically.

 _One question?!_ Tony thought to himself. _What does my fate have to do with the Court of Night? What is the Court of Night? What are my powers? What does she mean by being a member of the Court of Night already? Tip the scales of fate? Is she a member of the fae?_

After several moments of contemplation, Tony finally decided to ask the question whose answer would change his life forever: “What am I?”

“It will be more convincing to show you,” Sybil said, standing up and walking to a shelf behind Tony. _She sure is spritely for her age,_ Tony remarked to himself. She collected a small, ornate wooden chest covered in runic carvings from the shelf and sat back down at the table, placing the box in front of Tony.

“Go ahead and open it, dear,” she encouraged.

Tony did as instructed, flipping the lid open and peering inside. "Ashes?” he asked, confused.

“ _Anima dust_ ,” the seer corrected. “Take a handful,” she urged the boy, excitement noticeable in her voice and persistent grin.

Tony dipped his hand inside and sharply inhaled, his eyes going wide. The moment his fingers touched the ethereal, fine dust, it began to glow bright red, not unlike the sanguine color of Rudolph’s eyes.

“ _Evocation!_ ” Tony barely heard the seer exclaim over his shock. This was only the second instance he’s ever been able to see color. He was relieved, however, that the hypnotic effect of Rudolph’s gaze did not translate to the color of the dust.

He lifted his hand out of the box holding a small handful of the anima dust, marveling at the scarlet powder in his palm. Suddenly, the powder sublimated into a blood-red fog and enveloped his hand and wrist like a glove, much to the boy’s amazement.

After minutes of simply marveling at his hand, the boy finally asked, “What does it mean?”

“You, my dear, are a mage,” she stated as if it were obvious. “Red is the color of bravery, sheer power, and raw passion, and it’s an incredibly rare color of anima to possess,” she continued. “It appears that you are the next paragon of evocation.” The seer couldn’t help but laugh in excitement as she clasped her hands.

“Now, it is time for your adventure to continue, young paragon,” she said as she stood up.

“But, my hand—” Tony began, but he was quickly cut off as he shook his hand and the fog began glowing bright red and sank into his skin. He could feel the power buzzing under his flesh, concentrated as his fingertips. He felt the magic start growing in strength and traveling up his arm, and, panicking, unsure of what was going to happen as the buzzing feeling of power grew within him, he yelled for it to stop.

Just as suddenly as the feeling began, he felt it disperse, infusing the room with a burst of dazzling white light that shimmered and quickly diminished, leaving no trace of what had just occurred. Tony sighed in relief. “Well, I think I have more questions now than before I came in, but thank you,” he said, standing up and trying to take in the events of what had just happened.

 _I’m a mage!_ He thought to himself. He could hardly believe it, but, if vampires existed, why couldn’t magic? His heart was racing, and he felt like pinching himself. He still had no clue what any of this meant, what he could do, what this meant about his relationship with Rudolph, or what the Court of Night was. He did know, however, that he was getting way more than he bargained for when he begged to come to Europe. He couldn’t wait to see Rudolph tomorrow night and tell him everything that he found out.

Before he could get too lost in his thoughts, Tony realized Sybil hadn’t moved or said anything for a moment. “Uhh, Sybil?” he asked, concerned. He waved his hand in front of her unwavering, unblinking, ever-smiling face, but she didn’t react. He looked around at the still room before walking over to part the curtains and peer out the window. Tony’s heart dropped as he saw people were frozen in their tracks mid-step outside. Even the awnings of the shops were frozen mid-flap as they had been blowing in the wind.

Just as he began to panic, time started moving again and the people continued about their day as if nothing had happened. He turned to the seer who was looking at him with shock.

“A time spell!” she marveled, “On your first try!” She was staring at Tony with wonder as he sheepishly scratched the back of his head.

“Is that good?” he asked, biting his lip and raising a brow.

“It’s incredible! Most mages must spend their entire lives dedicated to studying the intricacies of time and building up to something so grand as to stop it altogether, and you simply halted the flow of time itself without any effort at all!” she said, shaking her head in astonishment. “Let’s just say if the Council of Nine was not aware of your existence before, they are _keenly_ aware of it now. Such a ripple…” she said, trailing off. “Anyway, you best be on your way,” she said, seeing the boy to the door.

“You have much awaiting you, my dear. Please, take care,” she said finally, ushering the boy out in a hurry and closing the door. Tony had a feeling she wasn’t being rude, but rather had a lot to figure out herself after their shared experience. He checked his phone and texted his parents that he was headed back to the hotel. When he looked back up, he was almost surprised to see the little fortune-telling shop was gone, _almost_ surprised _._ In its place was the alley he remembered passing before.

Tony made his way back to the hotel, his mind repeating the events of the little fortune-telling shop, trying to make sense of the seer’s prophesies and the fact that he had _magic coursing through his veins._

***

Tony sat in his hotel room that night, still trying to process everything. _Well,_ he thought to himself, _if I’m a mage… I should be able to do magic, right?_ Though, he really had no clue how to go about it.

He decided to start with something that sounded easy. The seer made it sound as if even the simplest of spells would require significant effort. He had searched for clues about evocation as he recalled Sybil saying that he was adept at such magic specifically, but everything he found about it was vague. The only consistent explanation he found was that the power supposedly came from within himself and he had to will it out of himself, or, more specifically, he had to _cast a spell_.

The first power he could think of was telekinesis, so he set one of the hotel’s glass cups a napkin on his desk to make it easy as possible for the glass to slide and got down to eye level. He stared at the object with all his attention and mental energy. He tried to imagine the glass sliding in as much vivid, specific detail as possible. He tried to imagine a force flowing through him into the glass, and pushed his hands toward the object trying to throw his ‘magic power’ into the glass. He even tried pleading with the glass. C _ome on glass, tip over, tip over glass, tip over,_ he repeated to himself to no avail.

After failing to make the glass so much as wobble, he decided to try something else. Tony figured that perhaps the easiest magic involved affecting your own body, so he decided to try levitating. Plus, Rudolph seemed to do it effortlessly. He sat on his bed, legs crossed, and tried to will himself in the air. He imagined exactly how it felt to fly with Rudolph: the weightless, floating feeling that suffused his whole body and gave him butterflies in his stomach. When nothing happened, he got off the bed and tried jumping to simply stay in the air, but he just ended up landing on the ground like normal.

He fell backward onto his bed with a frustrated groan. _Are there some sort of magic words?_ he thought to himself. _Do I need a staff? Or a wand? Or more of that anima dust?_ He just wished he had _answers._ Real answers that left nothing to the imagination, answers that would actually _help_ him fulfill his destiny, not _guess_ about it.

He had a feeling that anima dust was extremely rare and powerful. It felt like raw, unadulterated power flowing into his veins, as if he could have done anything he decided to do. Hell, it even granted him the ability to stop time itself, even if it was only for about a minute. He couldn’t imagine such an invigorating substance was easy to come by.

Tony wondered how far the time spell reached, whether it was the whole universe or just a small area, but the boy had no way of knowing. Sybil did say the ‘Council of Nine’, whatever that was, would be aware of his power though, and something about a ripple. Perhaps powerful magic was something that mages could sense from long distances. _Is the Court of Night a council of mages?_ the boy wondered.

Tony eventually turned off the light after trying to do it magically for five minutes before heading to bed. He let out a defeated sigh and eventually fell asleep questioning everything he ever knew about the world and himself.

***

The next day passed rather uneventfully. The ride back to Germany was much like the ride to Transylvania: he spent several long hours editing photos from the trip or simply staring out the window listening to music.

When the family finally reached the familiar castle well after sundown, Tony ran inside with his backpack on and shopping bag in-hand as he continued as far up the stairs of his tower as he could, ready to see Rudolph, but he kept pushing his body to go farther, even as his side was cramping and he was on the verge of hyperventilating. Then, just as he felt he was about to collapse, he felt a wave of energy fill every muscle in his body; refreshed and full of stamina, the boy was sprinting up the tower faster than he ever had before. He was taking the steps two at a time, flying up with vigor. Tony’s breathing had even returned to normal, and the climb felt as effortless as walking.

After finally scaling the several stories of stairs, the boy opened his door and smiled as he saw the vampire already waiting for him on his bed. “Rudolph! I’m so glad you’re already here. You will never _guess_ what I’ve been through the last few days,” Tony said with a smile.

“Is that so?” Rudolph said with a chuckle, curious at what the human had to share.

The blonde closed the door behind him and kicked off his shoes. He turned to Rudolph, finally letting out a breath as he could relax. As he did, he suddenly felt the exertion of running up hundreds of stairs hit him all at once. He gasped for air as he felt his vision go blurry and his consciousness slipped away, the boy falling to the floor.


	5. Bloodlust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is sexually explicit/porn with mildly dubious consent. If you do not wish to read such content, no major plot is developed in this chapter and the main storyline continues in chapter 6, so you can skip ahead.

Rudolph rushed to the human and picked him up, laying him on the bed and checking his pulse. The boy’s heart was racing and his breathing was rapid and ragged. Rudolph noticed the boy was sweating profusely and flushed red. The immortal had no clue what was happening, but the boy’s heartbeat was consistent and he didn’t appear to be shaking or twitching, so he simply let the boy lie down and rest.

It had been almost four weeks since the vampire had consumed an adequate volume of human blood, and his urges were at their strongest. The human boy smelled borderline irresistibly delicious under normal circumstances, but with his heart racing and Rudolph’s appetite at its strongest, the vampire’s mouth was watering and his pupils were dilated. He knew he couldn’t abandon the boy now to go hunt, so he held his breath and sat on the far side of the room as he monitored Tony’s condition.

After only about ten minutes, the human’s breathing had finally slowed and his heart rate was at a normal resting rate. Tony finally sat up and rubbed his head, groaning. “What the hell happened?” he asked the vampire, coughing a bit and blinking at Rudolph.

“I know as little as you do, I’m afraid.” Rudolph answered. “Are you feeling alright, Tony?”

“I feel… exhausted. It’s a long story involving a fortune-teller, magic, and my fate, apparently,” he explained before laying back down and covering his eyes with the crook of his elbow. “I think… I think I’ll have to explain after a quick… nap,” he barely got out before falling asleep.

Rudolph was quite relieved that Tony was okay and simply needed to rest, but the vampire was incredibly confused about what the mortal had to say before going to sleep. Fortunes? Magic? Fate? He decided the boy would be awake soon enough to explain, but he _desperately_ needed to hunt, especially after Tony’s blood was rushing and enticing Rudolph’s appetite.

“Sleep well, Mortal,” he whispered before flying out of the castle to track down a target he had been keeping tabs on for the past two weeks; Rudolph would be hunting an ‘irredeemable’ this moon.

***

Tony awoke to Rudolph’s arms wrapping around him. He hummed happily and snuggled into the vampire. “Where’ve you been?” he asked sleepily, his eyes still closed.

“Hunting,” Rudolph answered breathily and pressed his face into the boy’s neck.

“Mmmh… how was it?” Tony replied.

“ _Refreshing_ ,” he answered, grabbing the boy’s hair in his fist and leaning his head back to get better access to the human’s neck. He inhaled softly and licked along the boy’s skin before pressing kisses into his flesh.

“What are you doing?” Tony wondered aloud, blinking and looking down as best he could.

Rudolph just let out a breathy huff and gently bit at Tony’s neck before pressing his mouth to the flushed flesh and sucking to leave a mark that would surely bruise by tomorrow.

Tony yelped in surprise and tried to sit up, but Rudolph’s grip on the boy tightened and pulled him closer.

“Rudolph!” the human whined, trying to pull the vampire’s face away from his neck but only received a low growl in return. “You’re leaving marks!”

The vampire bit against the boy’s flesh again and left another hickey on the other side of his neck before pulling away to look directly into Tony’s eyes. “You’re mine,” Rudolph said simply with a sultry look painted on his face. The immortal moved to the boy’s lower neck to continue marking his lover.

Tony noticed that Rudolph’s eyes were even more vibrantly red than usual, more akin to scarlet than crimson… _like blood_ , Tony realized. “Is this what human blood does to you?” the boy asked with a gulp.

The vampire just grunted in reply to the boy’s question as he placed another mark against the flesh of Tony’s collar. The teenager couldn’t help but moan against his better judgement, which made Rudolph grip him even tighter and lick at the boy’s skin.

“My parents will see—” Tony began, trying to push the vampire away, but Rudolph growled again in warning, louder this time. The boy could only whimper and moan as Rudolph continued his assault on his exposed flesh.

“I need _more_ ,” the vampire demanded, tugging at Tony’s clothing.

Tony gulped at the implication of what Rudolph was asking. He felt himself hardening and straining against his underwear at the idea of letting the vampire take what he wanted like an animal in rut. He was frightened at the prospect as the boy was a clueless virgin, but he felt the fire of _lust_ and _desire_ flowing through him.

Finally, Tony decided to stop resisting and let Rudolph tug off his clothes. “Rudolph…” he said quietly, a flush spreading on his cheeks. He went to cover his erection in modesty, but Rudolph pinned his hands above his head and kissed the boy passionately. “I want it all,” the vampire whispered in Tony’s ear.

Tony felt incredibly awkward and embarrassed, like he was on display for the immortal. “I feel awkward being the only one… you know…” he tried to explain.

After a moment, Rudolph finally processed what Tony was saying. He quickly began pulling off his clothes without ceremony and sat on Tony’s hips with his knees on either side of the blonde’s waist. After a moment of hesitation, Tony finally looked down to admire the vampire in his entirety.

The immortal’s skin continued across his entire body without flaw. His body was as toned and lightly chiseled as his arms and legs, so his abs and pecs were visible through his gray-toned skin. Tony gulped and felt his cock harden further against the immortal’s round, perky, muscular bubble butt. While the blonde hadn’t seen the other man’s ass, he could certainly _feel_ it.

Finally, his gaze traveled slightly farther south, and Tony felt his stomach do a nervous flip as he took in the sight of Rudolph’s erection. At least nine solid inches of hard, thick, uncut cock jutted out at the human. He didn’t think his hand would even fit around the vampire’s erection, let alone did he think it would fit _inside_ him.

The vampire noticed the boy’s breath hitch in his throat and heard his heart pick up in pace, only encouraging the immortal to continue further. He leaned forward, continuing to hold Tony’s wrists above his head with one hand and began making out with the boy. He pushed his tongue into the human’s mouth, tasting the boy’s tongue and grinding his plush ass against the other man’s crotch, eliciting a moan from the human.

Rudolph inhaled the human’s pheromones, encouraging his sexual frenzy to continue strong. The immortal was _beyond_ aroused, his giant member leaking a stream of precum onto Tony’s naval. The vampire swiped his thumb along his own cockhead and the boy’s belly before pressing the sexual fluid just past Tony’s lips.

Tony whimpered but licked at the man’s clear sap anyway, grinding his hips against the immortal. He had never been more aroused in his life, his heart racing and his thoughts filling with all the things he wanted to do with the vampire.

Rudolph slid off the teenager and quickly flipped him over, pulling the human’s ass up in the air and exposing his most intimate areas. Tony began to complain but quickly dissolved into moans as Rudolph pressed his mouth against the boy’s hole. He lapped his tongue against the virginal pucker and inhaled the musky scent of a hormonal teenage boy, inciting a fire in the pit of Rudolph’s stomach. He licked every inch of the human’s perineum and the back of his balls, collecting every molecule of Tony’s pheromones that he could before diving into the boy’s hole with his tongue.

“Oh, _fuck_ ,” Tony moaned into the pillow, pushing himself further back, to which Rudolph growled and pressed into the boy’s sensitive hole even farther, tongue-fucking the blonde with everything he had. He reached around to grab the human’s hard, leaking cock, slowly rubbing it before pressing Tony’s own precum into his tight, virginal hole for Rudolph to taste.

Finally after what seemed like hours of licking, teasing, and tongue-fucking, Rudolph finally pulled away and lined himself up with the other man’s hole. “Woah, wait, hold on!” Tony said quickly. “Lube? Lotion? Oil? _Something?_ ” Tony pleaded. “I’ve never… you know…”

Rudolph’s eyes flared and his cock throbbed at the thought of being the first to press inside of Tony. He pulled away from the boy and quickly flew to the bathroom and returned within seconds with a bottle of the gentle lotion that Tony also used to masturbate. While not ideal, Tony was at least glad to have some sort of lubricant for Rudolph’s massive erection.

He gulped and pressed his face back into the pillow and presented himself to the vampire. “Take me,” he whispered, his hormones raging and lust fogging his mind.

“Good boy,” Rudolph replied, pressing his lubed member against Tony’s tight ring. In one fell swoop, Rudolph bucked his hips forward and slid the whole length of his cock into the boy’s tight, unused hole. Tony let out a surprised yelp and squirmed against Rudolph. It _hurt._ Rudolph was _so deep_ and his fat cock was stretching the boy wide. The sharp pain took Tony’s breath away as he whined and tried to pull away, doing his best not to scream out.

Rudolph simply held himself deep and pulled Tony up onto his knees. The vampire wrapped his arms around the boy and pressed kisses into his neck trying to comfort him until the pain subsided. “ _Please,_ ” the boy whimpered, but Rudolph just hummed and gently ran his fingers across the boy’s skin.

After a moment, the agonizing pain dulled into a painful ache, and the pain seemed to subside altogether a moment after that. Tony let out a sigh and gently lowered himself to the bed again, arching his back to submit to the vampire once more.

Rudolph groaned in animalistic pleasure as Tony presented himself again, partially pulling out to slam his fat cock back inside the human’s tight, wet hole. Tony screamed in pleasure this time, and encouraged Rudolph to continue. “ _Fuck,_ keep going,” he begged, finally feeling the pleasure overtake the pain.

Rudolph began fucking in and out of the younger man, filling him deep with the vampire’s leaking cock. While Tony’s own erection had softened from the earlier pain, it was quickly returning to full mast, his mind melting as the immortal ravaged him from behind. Rudolph’s girthy cock rubbing against his prostate and pressing into his innermost reaches was driving the human to the edge.

“Wait— Rudolph, I can’t— It feels too good, I can’t—“ he tried to explain, but the pleasure was overwhelming any sense that he had.

Rudolph in his animalistic rut simply fucked the boy harder and shifted his position, fucking even deeper. He was now pressing against the human’s inner ring, causing Tony to scream in both pleasure and pain. “Don’t stop!” he cried as he felt his impending climax build.

Unfazed, Rudolph just pulled Tony’s hair and continued plowing the boy’s plush ass until he felt the human’s muscles clench on his enormous cock. “ _Good boy_ ,” he repeated. “Cum for me, show me how much you want me,” he demanded.

Tony just moaned and bucked his hips as he shot rope after rope of cum into the mattress below him. Rudolph reached below the human, swiping up some of the man’s load and tasting the slightly salty, slightly bitter taste of the boy’s spunk. The vampire groaned and pulled out for a moment, lubing himself back up with the rest of the mortal’s cum and slamming back inside.

Tony gasped as the vampire resumed plowing his overstimulated, overly-sensitive hole, his eyes rolling back as he drooled into the pillow. After several moments of rough, mind-numbing fucking, Tony felt himself hardening again.

Rudolph felt himself getting close and wrapped his arm around the blonde’s neck and choked him roughly, cutting off his stream of moans as he pumped into the boy’s wet, dripping, cum-soaked ass. After a moment, Tony started grabbing at Rudolph’s arm, trying desperately to get air. Rudolph’s arm tightened, unrelenting as he finally reached his own orgasm, blasting several pumps of his massive load deep into the boy before finally letting go.

Tony collapsed into the pillow, gasping for breath but was harder than ever and aching for release. Rudolph, having satisfied his primal urges, slowly pulled out of his lover’s now well-used hole and began to apologize. “Tony, I—” he began, but Tony cut him off.

“No, please don’t. That was the most intense, incredible pleasure I have _ever_ felt, Rudolph,” he interrupted as he turned around onto his back. The boy was slowly rubbing his persistent erection and Rudolph simply grinned at the sight.

“Good. Me too,” he replied, watching the boy continue to pleasure himself.

“Could you…” Tony began, but quickly flushed and thought better of asking.

“Don’t be shy,” Rudolph said with a grin. “What would you like, _Mortal_?”

“I want you to… to sit on my face,” Tony requested quietly, but Rudolph immediately moved up, turning around with his knees on either side of the boy’s chest, and sat his large, muscular bubble butt against the blonde’s face.

Tony took it in stride, mimicking the vampire’s earlier actions. He licked at the immortal’s ass before focusing on his hole, pressing his tongue inside the immortal while jerking himself off all the while. The vampire’s toned bubble butt was large enough that Tony had difficulty breathing, but this made it even hotter for the boy. Just as he was running out of air, Tony shot his second load of the night, Rudolph quickly leaning forward so the human could breathe, but also so he could take the blonde’s manhood in his mouth and swallow every drop of his seed.

“That was incredible,” Tony said, laying back and panting.

“Undeniably,” agreed Rudolph as he laid beside the mortal and wrapped him in his arms. After the rough and vigorous sex, they were both too exhausted to clean up and silently agreed to worry about it later. Tony nuzzled into his lover’s chest, and they we soon asleep in each other’s arms.


	6. Factions

Tony woke up late in the morning with a content yawn; he had never felt more satisfied. He gently scooted out of the bed so as not to disturb Rudolph and walked to the bathroom to clean up.

As the blonde was showering, he felt Rudolph’s arms encircle him as he pressed a gentle kiss to the human’s bruised and tender neck. “Good morning,” he said softly.

“You’re up early,” Tony remarked with a smile and turned to face the immortal.

“I shall nap later,” Rudolph replied with a yawn. “I do apologize for bruising you,” the vampire said with genuine remorse. His primal urges had overtaken him the night before, but it had felt so _right_ that neither one of them wanted it to stop.

“It was _so_ worth it,” Tony said with a laugh. “I will have to figure out something to tell my mom and dad eventually, though.” Luckily, his parents would be working on some personal writing projects most of the time now that Tony’s birthday celebration had concluded, so he’d be able to somewhat avoid them, at least for a short time.

“Hey!” Tony exclaimed, realizing he got… _distracted_ and never got to tell Rudolph anything about the fortune teller, his fate, or even what Tony _was._ “I have _so much_ to tell you!” He quickly shut off the water and rushed to dry off as Rudolph followed suit, albeit more slowly and quite bemused.

As Tony stepped back into his bedroom, he noticed the gift he bought for Rudolph and smiled, walking over to grab it. “Hey, wait, don’t get dressed yet,” he said, interrupting the vampire as he was about to pick up his usual outfit.

The vampire cocked his head and set his clothes back down before Tony was shoving the shopping bag in his hands. The vampire peered inside and pulled out the silky smooth black pajamas and frowned. “ _Tony_ ,” he chided, looking up at the mortal. “These feel incredibly sumptuous. I’m certain they were quite exorbitant, and you _know_ I hate my birthday—” he began, Tony cutting him off.

“ _Please_ just accept the gift and enjoy it. It’s not even your birthday. We have so many more important things to discuss right now,” Tony groaned, still eagerly anticipating everything he had to tell the vampire.

Rudolph gave the human a frustrated look and simply got dressed in the incredibly soft, satiny pajamas that, admittedly, the vampire did quite enjoy. He had virtually no other outfits, not that he truly cared to expand his wardrobe, but the modern, stylish sleepwear was incredibly comfortable and really did fit the vampire’s dark aesthetic. “Well,” he sighed in defeat, “ _thank you_.”

Once Tony was dressed in his sweatpants and soft cotton t-shirt, he climbed back into bed, sitting cross-legged and patting the blanket in front of himself. “You’re welcome, now _come on_ ,” he urged the immortal.

Rudolph sat in front of the boy, listening intently as Tony launched into his explanation about everything that had occurred in the seer’s shop. Tony explained everything from the curious nature of the store which appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye, to the charming character of the fortune-teller, to everything she had to tell Tony about his future and his abilities and the spell Tony accidentally cast, freezing time itself.

Rudolph sat staring at Tony, simply listening to what the human had to tell him as the teenager finished his story: “So, I finally run up the entire tower of stairs, and I think I accidentally used magic to do it, and I burst into the room feeling great, until suddenly I didn’t, like a ton of bricks hit me all at once, and I passed out,” he concluded after his long, rambling explanation of the events of the past few days, “but you knew that last part.”

“So…” Rudolph began, still trying to process the bombardment of information and pulling Tony into his lap. “What I understand is that we’re to get married and rule the world,” he joked, ruffling the humans hair and pressing a quick kiss to his resulting frown.

“There’s so much more to it than that! I mean, that’s not exactly, wait—” Tony replied frustrated, but couldn’t help but crack a smile and start to laugh. “I tell you I’m a mage, but you only heard the part about yourself,” Tony chuckled. “So full of yourself! Aren’t you even surprised that I have _magic_ in my _blood_?”

“I only heard the part about _us_ ,” Rudolph corrected light-heartedly before answering the boy more seriously. “I’m truthfully not particularly surprised,” Rudolph answered. “I could think of no reason as to why the venom failed, but the seer’s explanation is convincing. It is more convincing than the alternative,” he added.

“That I just got lucky and stayed human for no reason?” Tony clarified.

Rudolph nodded and smiled. “This is amazing news, Tony,” he began. “If you’re a member of the Court of Night, my clan is forbidden from harming you… though they will not be pleased with my deception.”

“What is this stupid _Court of Night_!” Tony exclaimed, shaking Rudolph’s shoulders and falling backward onto the bed dramatically.

Rudolph simply laughed at the mortal’s dramatic display before answering him. “The Court of Night, Mortal, is simply the name for all the factions of magical beings. Vampires are members of the Children of Night, while mages are members of The Arcanum. You’re becoming increasingly familiar with The Fae, and there are a couple other factions.”

Tony sat up and looked at Rudolph curiously. He made a mental note not to underestimate the ancient vampire’s knowledge. “What are the others?” Tony pushed, wanting to know more.

“Well, there’s the Cryptid faction, composed of various non-humanoid creatures, such as krakens and unicorns,” the child of night continued, “and The Celestials, but no one has seen a celestial in millennia,” Rudolph concluded.

Tony pondered what the immortal had to say for a moment before asking, “What’s a celestial? What happened to them?”

Rudolph tilted his head in contemplation. “No one really knows, at least no one I’ve spoken to about the matter. Some propose the celestials were gods who created the factions. One celestial per faction, that is. However, it has been thousands of years since anyone has seen one, and most of the knowledge we have about them are just legends.”

Tony hummed, wondering just how much was hidden from the human world and just how much he had to learn about his new life. “If I’m a mage, how am I supposed to know about The Arcanum? Am I supposed to find them? Are they supposed to teach me their ways?” Tony asked.

Rudolph shrugged and shook his head. “I am not exactly a member, so I would not know. Perhaps they will seek you out. It sounds as though the seer was rather convinced that your time manipulation would be impossible to ignore.”

Tony just sighed and pushed the vampire back onto the bed, playfully pinning him down. “Well, if I’m a mage, I should be able to do magic,” Tony stated with a frustrated tone. “Do you wanna help me figure out how?”

Rudolph chuckled and feigned helplessness. “It appears I have been defeated and have no choice but to help you,” he jested.

“Good!” Tony said, laughing and getting off the bed. “Let’s try something easy first because I couldn’t even move a cup when I tried last time,” the boy admitted.

“What do you have in mind?” Rudolph asked.

“I was thinking perhaps levitation. You seem to have no trouble doing it,” Tony suggested, motioning for Rudolph to come stand next to him. “So, how do you do it?”

The vampire got out of the bed and stood by Tony, looking down at the shorter boy. “Honestly, it just comes naturally to us. In fact, when a vampire is newly-turned, we have trouble _not_ floating,” he explained.

Tony groaned and crossed his arms. “That’s no help at all!”

Rudolph just laughed and patted the human’s shoulder. “Why don’t you try something else first? Maybe see if you can resist my hypnotic gaze?” the vampire suggested.

“That sounds like a pretty good idea, actually,” Tony agreed and stepped into Rudolph’s personal space. He wrapped his arms around the vampire and looked up into his blood-red irises. Rudolph held the boy close and stared back at the human with a fond smile splayed across his lips.

Tony immediately felt the familiar foggy haze flood into his mind and body. He tried his best to fight against it without breaking eye contact, but the longer he stared, the more convinced he felt to simply give in and let the vampire hold him for the rest of eternity.

“Tony?” Rudolph asked, running a hand through the boy’s hair and getting no response. The vampire chuckled and placed his hand over Tony’s eyes to break the hypnosis. When he felt the blonde shake his head and huff, he pulled his hand away to see the frustrated boy.

“I wanna try again!” he said. “I’ll try to brace for it in advance this time,” he decided aloud. He furrowed his brow and pressed his eyes shut tight. He clenched his fists and mentally braced for the hypnotic effect, imagining himself resisting the mental fog. Finally, he opened his eyes and looked into the handsome immortal’s scarlet eyes again.

The second that he felt the comforting haze begin to overtake him, he growled and furrowed his brow. It seemed to pause the effect, but soon he felt his brow relax and the haze continue. _No…_ he thought to himself, trying to resist again, but the boy felt _so_ comfortable just staring into the hypnotic eyes of his lover. Right as he felt the familiar edge of no return begin to overtake him, he felt a fiery frustration building in his core, angry at his inability to perform even the simplest of spells and frustrated with being unable to simply meet his own lover’s gaze for more than a couple seconds, and shouted out. The moment he did, he felt the haze clear his mind and he sighed, resting his head on Rudolph’s chest.

“ _I did it_ ,” he said in more of a breath than in words, mentally exhausted but triumphant. “I did it,” he repeated to himself.

“Good job, Tony,” Rudolph said, proud of the boy. He picked him up and floated to the bed, laying them both down and holding the boy against his chest. “I believe we are both ready to nap now,” he said with a yawn, to which Tony just nodded and hummed in agreement, and the two fell asleep in each other’s embrace within a few short moments.

***

Tony woke up, finding himself lying in a dark black void of a room, sitting in the middle of a large, glowing… _colorful_ rune. This was a new color, however, and he didn’t have a word for it nor anything to compare it to. It definitely was _not_ red. He didn’t have much time to think about it though, as he was suddenly surrounded by several people appearing out of puffs of smoke in long, flowing cloaks with the hoods pulled up to obscure their identities. He counted nine total humans, at least he assumed they were human, surrounding him. The boy stood up, but was unable to move beyond that.

“Greetings, young spark,” came a feminine voice directly in front of him. “I am archmage Mezora, head of the council of nine and paragon of illusion,” she said, introducing herself. “I do hope you will excuse such an _imposing_ introduction,” she apologized, “but we could no longer delay your initiation into The Arcanum.”

Tony grinned and felt his heart flutter in excitement. “I was wondering when I would meet you!” Tony exclaimed. “I have so many questions!” the boy began.

“I am sure of it,” Mezora replied. “However, we have little time, so you must endure your curiosity until next we meet, in the waking world,” she continued.

“Wait, so this is a dream?” Tony asked.

“In a way, yes,” the illusionist replied. “However, what you experience here is very much real,” she explained. “The ripple from your temporal hold has incited much discussion in our inner circles, so we are here to begin you on the path of the arcane.”

“Not to mention Sybil can’t keep a secret to save her life,” came a light-hearted voice behind Tony. “The cat was already out of the bag.”

“Yes!” Tony exclaimed. “I mean, I am ready to begin,” he said, clearing his throat and nodding his head.

“There is only one task you must overcome before your induction,” Mezora replied. “Your relationship with the child of night must end.”

“What? You mean I have to break it off with Rudolph? Why?” he had to clarify. The boy thought the factions got along, so he had no idea why his relationship would prevent him from joining The Arcanum.

“Your relationship with the child of night would lead to… questionable allegiances,” Mezora explained. “Such an intimate connection could also have unpredictable effects on your abilities, I’m afraid."

Tony stared at the cloaked figure in shock. “I can’t— I won’t—” he began. He couldn’t simply just _leave_ Rudolph. The vampire was part of his destiny! He wanted to be with Rudolph more than anything else, until the end of time, even. He… he _loved_ Rudolph.

“I understand your feelings for the immortal, young spark, but our factions are meant to coexist, not commingle,” she interrupted. “If your romance continues, the council will be forced to intervene.”

“No! If I have to choose between being a member and being with Rudolph, I don’t want to be a stupid mage!” he shouted in anger.

“I’m afraid the choice is not yours to make,” came a male voice from beside Tony, causing the boy to turn and glower at the figure. “Your potential is far too great to waste.”

“Well, you’re not getting your stuffy old hands on my power if it means that I don’t have control over my own life and my own relationships!” the boy retorted in anger, causing the rune beneath his feet to flicker.

“Insolence!” shouted the council in unison.

“I’m sorry, Tony, but if that is your choice, we have no further option but to remove the vampire from your life and your memory by force,” Mezora said resolutely before the council began chanting words that Tony didn’t recognize.

The young mage felt rage boiling inside his core unlike any anger he had felt before. He began shaking and his brow furrowed, the boy’s body buzzing with the familiar feeling of power, but this time he let it build and embraced the vibration building within every inch of his flesh until it was practically _burning_ him. He would die before he let them take Rudolph from him.

A single tear streaked down his face before he finally exploded, shouting in fury. “You. Will. NOT!” he screamed, pushing his arms straight out from his body, and a shockwave of red light burst forth from the boy. The rune beneath his feet turned red as the shockwave passed, the council gasping in response.

Each member of the council threw up their arms, crossing their wrists in front of their chest as a barrier formed in front of them, glowing that bright, unfamiliar color that the rune had been previously. The shockwave, however, simply burst through the barrier unfaltering, shredding it into quickly-fading scatterings of light and threw the council backwards, their cloaked bodies skittering across the floor of the void-like room.

Before the council could react, Tony suddenly felt himself slipping through the glowing red rune on the floor and waking in his bed, Rudolph still wrapped around him. He shook the vampire awake, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Rudolph,” he called out, sniffling.

The vampire blinked up at the boy and was quickly filled with concern at the human’s tears. “Tony, what’s wrong?” he asked, sitting up and pulling the boy against himself, much to Tony’s relief.

“I- I love you, Rudolph. I love you so much,” he said between sobs and buried his face in the shocked immortal’s chest.

“I… I love you too, Tony,” Rudolph finally replied after a moment of shock. The vampire ran his hand through the blonde’s hair and held him close until the boy finally calmed down, reduced to sniffles instead of sobs. “What happened? Was it a nightmare?” Rudolph asked, still unaware of what had gotten into the mortal.

“The Council of Nine, the head of The Arcanum,” Tony began, finally pulling away from Rudolph to sit up on his own and rubbing the remaining tears from his eyes, “they came to visit me, but it was not at all what I wanted or expected,” he explained.

“What did they tell you? Did they harm you?” Rudolph asked, his gaze narrowing as he started to inspect the boy for any injuries.

Tony gently pushed the vampire back. “No, no,” he said, assuring the immortal of his wellbeing. “Though, I did kind of… knock them out, or at least knocked them over,” he said, his voice still slightly shaky.

“Why? What did they do to you?” Rudolph asked, having to resist the urge to pull the boy back against himself protectively.

“They said I had to break up with you to join The Arcanum, and when I refused, they were about to cast some sort of spell to force us apart and erase my memory of you,” Tony explained, swallowing in an attempt to force down the lump forming in his throat again. “I was so scared I was going to lose you.”

“I’m still here, Tony… but how did you stop a council of nine archmages?” he asked, unsure of how the young boy could have overwhelmed the nine most powerful casters on Earth.

“You know… I’m not exactly sure. I just remember filling with uncontrollable rage from them trying to take you from me, and I felt my power buzzing under my skin again, but this time I just let it keep building until I finally exploded,” he said. “I didn’t really know what I was doing. I just did it.”

As Rudolph sat listening intently, the boy continued to describe everything else he experienced, from the rune whose color he didn’t recognize, to Mezora, to his shockwave knocking them back and changing the color of the rune to red.

“The rune was originally blue,” Rudolph finally said after Tony’s long explanation of the events, eliciting a confused look from the human. The boy had no idea how the vampire would know that without seeing it. “The Arcanum, their magic expresses itself according to their current head archmage, and you said Mezora is the paragon of illusion, which would make her magic blue,” he explained.

“Oh,” Tony said simply. After a moment he added, “Red is better.” Neither of them could help but laugh at the random comment.

“Oh yeah?” Rudolph asked with a chuckle. “Tell us how you really feel,” he joked.

Tony fell backward onto the bed with a chuckle of his own. “It’s true!”

Once they had finally calmed down, Rudolph remarked seriously, “I doubt this is the last you’ve seen of the council. What do you intend to do when they contact you next?”

Tony’s heart sunk at the vampire’s words as he began to worry. “I’m not sure,” he said. “I think I got pretty lucky just now. I don’t have any sort of control over my magic, and I bet they’ll be anticipating it next time anyway.”

Rudolph hummed in contemplation. “Well,” he began, “you’re just going to have to learn to control it.”

“I would if I had someone teach me how!” Tony exclaimed in frustration. “I think my power swells with my emotions, but I can’t just be an angry little gremlin all the time!” he added with a laugh.

“Hey!” Rudolph chided playfully. “You’re _my_ angry little gremlin!” he said, leaning over the human and pressing a kiss to Tony’s lips. “You know, I think it’s time you met the family,” Rudolph said with a nervous smile.

Tony’s face fell and he felt his heart flutter. “What? You mean like meet the parents? Face Gregory again? They hate me!” Tony exclaimed, not wanting to face the vampiric clan.

“Not exactly,” Rudolph said. “They will be quite furious with me, though,” he admitted. “However, perhaps if you met with the elders of my clan, we could find some answers about the relations between our factions. They might even know someone who could teach you magic,” he added.

“The Arcanum is _not_ my faction, Rudolph,” Tony said shortly. “I was not inducted, and I don’t intend to be.”

“Don’t say that,” Rudolph said, sitting back up. “We must simply change the council’s mind. The elders of my clan may also know why the Council of Nine is concerned with your perceived allegiance to the Children of Night. There is no animosity between us as I’m aware.”

Tony huffed and sat up as well to face the vampire. “Fine, but I’m not joining some society of mages if it means I have to give you up. Not now, not ever,” he asserted stubbornly.

“That’s my good little gremlin,” Rudolph cooed, grinning at the human playfully.

“Oh, that is _so_ not becoming a thing!” Tony replied through poorly-controlled laughter. “No, seriously!” he added as Rudolph adopted a mischievous look.

“Okay, okay,” Rudolph conceded, holding up his hands in surrender. “Shall we fly to my clan at dusk, then?” he asked, returning the conversation to the matter-at-hand.

“As long as you promise they won’t kill us,” Tony compromised, still unsure of how he felt about meeting Rudolph’s family.

“Well,” Rudolph replied, “I promise they won’t kill _you_.”

Tony couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “You’re so dramatic,” he commented.

Rudolph just laughed and ruffled Tony’s hair. “It’s okay. My angry little gremlin will protect me from my clan.”

Tony tackled the vampire backward onto the bed playfully. “You better stop!” he yelled, despite his own laughter.

“ _Make me_ ,” Rudolph countered with a smug, sultry look.


End file.
